Home visits in general practice – most often for elderly patients: A report from the Møre & Romsdal Prescription Study

Authors

  • Jørund Straand
  • Hogne Sandvik

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5324/nje.v8i2.452

Abstract

 

Objectives:

 

 

Methods:

 

 

Results:

 

 

Conclusions:

 

 

Home visiting policy should be more selective. While most children could be adequately

taken care of by telephone consultations or consultations in the surgery, home visits should be encouraged

for the chronically ill and the housebound.

5.074 home visits were recorded (9.2% of all face-to-face contacts). Home visiting rates were

highest for the elderly and for children. Most home visits were for new diagnoses, and 28% took place

during weekends. Infections in the respiratory tract comprised the majority of the diagnoses for visiting

children, whereas coronary heart disease and heart failure were the most frequent diagnoses for visiting

the elderly. Drugs were prescribed during 48.9% of the home visits. General systemic antiinfectives and

respiratory drugs comprised 53% of all prescriptions, whereas CNS-drugs comprised another 20%. Doctors'

characteristics associated with doing home visits were male gender, young age, GP specialisation,

fixed salary, and rural location.

A cross-sectional descriptive study in the Norwegian county of Møre & Romsdal. All encounters

(90,458) and prescriptions (74,079) issued during two months were recorded.

Although home health care has been the fastest growing segment of the health care system

during the last decades, general practitioners' (GPs') home visiting rates have declined. The aim of this

study was to analyse home visits in relation to characteristics of both patients and GPs, the diagnoses,

and the drugs prescribed.

ABSTRACT

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Published

2009-10-30

How to Cite

Straand, J., & Sandvik, H. (2009). Home visits in general practice – most often for elderly patients: A report from the Møre & Romsdal Prescription Study. Norsk Epidemiologi, 8(2). https://doi.org/10.5324/nje.v8i2.452

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 2 (1998): The epidemiology of ageing

Section

Articles

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