Bmc Fam Pract
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To explore general practitioners' (GPs') perceived indicators of vulnerability among pregnant women in primary care. ⋯ The GPs demonstrated a broad variety of perceived indicators of vulnerability in pregnancy; most importantly, the GPs were aware of a group of pregnant women with intangible vulnerability mainly representing low resilience. Despite not fitting into the GPs' perceived concept of vulnerability, the GPs had a strong gut feeling that these women might be vulnerable. Misjudging the resources of pregnant women due to their physical appearance could delay the GPs' identification of vulnerability. Future studies should explore the challenges GPs experiences when assessing vulnerability among pregnant women.
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In recent years, telemedicine consultations have evolved as a new form of providing primary healthcare. Telemedicine options can provide benefits to patients in terms of access, reduced travel time and no risk of disease spreading. However, concerns have been raised that access is not equally distributed in the population, which could lead to increased inequality in health. The aim of this paper is to explore the determinants for use of direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine consultations in a setting where telemedicine is included in the publicly funded healthcare system. ⋯ The use of DTC telemedicine is determined by factors that are generally not associated with greater healthcare need and the distribution raises some concerns about the equity implications. Policy makers aiming to increase the level of telemedicine consultations in healthcare should consider measures to promote access for elderly and individuals born outside of Sweden to ensure that all groups have access to healthcare services according to their needs.
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To evaluate intermediate care for knee and hip osteoarthritis (KHOA) in the general practice that incorporate specialist services into general practice to prevent unnecessary referrals to hospitals. ⋯ Orthopaedists and GPs perceived the benefits of an intensified collaboration in intermediate care. Intermediate care may contribute to high quality of care through more physiotherapy referrals. Further research with longer follow-up is needed to confirm these findings and give more insight in referrals and healthcare consumption.
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Communication skills are fundamental to successful medical practice and can greatly impact patient satisfaction, compliance and outcomes. This study evaluated knowledge and practice of doctor- patient communication among the urban family physicians based on main items of Calgary Cambridge Observation Guides. ⋯ There is a potential gap between knowledge and self-reported practices toward communication skills among a sample of Iranian family physicians. They have fundamental weakness in the most important evidence-based items of doctor- patient communication. Considering significant role of family physicians in prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) as an emerging challenge of our country, the topic of communication skills should be inserted as a top educational priority of family physicians.
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General practitioners (GPs) have a key role in the diagnosis of cancer. It is crucial to identify factors influencing the decision to refer for suspected cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate the alignment between the patient's cancer worry and the GP's suspicion of cancer in the first clinical encounter and the association with the time interval from the first symptom presentation until the first referral to specialist care, i.e. the primary care interval (PCI). ⋯ Misalignment between the patient's worry and the GP's suspicion was common at the first cancer-related encounter. Importance should be given to the patient interview, due to a potential delayed GP referral among patients diagnosed with "easy-to-diagnose" cancer types presenting with unspecific symptoms.