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Frequent Attenders with Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Primary Care Settings

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Advancements in Clinical Research

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((NR,volume 952))

Abstract

Governments struggle to fund health services and there is a growing interest in the cost, clinical characteristics, and interventions for high utilizers of care, such as persistent frequent attenders to primary care. The purpose of this study was to determine the components shaping the phenomenon of frequent attendance in patients with chronic respiratory diseases in primary care settings. We examined 200 adult patients with chronic diseases (median age 65, range 18–90) recruited from 126 general practitioners. We conclude that, in patients with chronic respiratory diseases, frequent attendance can be expected among those with a low level of satisfaction with their quality of health, a low level of QoL in the physical domain as much as QoL in the social relationships domain, making multiple visits to a doctor (more than 4 visits), taking more than five drugs, being treated for more than three chronic diseases, waiting at the doctor’s office for no more than 30 min, receiving a greater number of primary care services, and requiring the assistance of a district nurse. Such patients may need social support interventions and monitoring of their clinical status.

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Conflicts of Interest

The authors have no financial or other relations that might lead to a conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Wroclaw Medical University, 1 Syrokomli Street, 51-141, Wroclaw, Poland

    Donata Kurpas

  2. Opole Medical School, 68 Katowicka Street, 45-060, Opole, Poland

    Donata Kurpas & Katarzyna Szwamel

  3. Independent Public Healthcare Center, Emergency Ward and Admissions, 2 Roosevelta Street, 47-200, Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Poland

    Katarzyna Szwamel

  4. Department of Humanities in Medicine, Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, 11 Gen. Chlapowskiego Street, 70-103, Szczecin, Poland

    Bożena Mroczek

Authors
  1. Donata Kurpas
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  2. Katarzyna Szwamel
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  3. Bożena Mroczek
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Donata Kurpas .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Public Higher Medical Professional School in Opole, Institute of Nursing, Opole, Poland

    Mieczyslaw Pokorski

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Kurpas, D., Szwamel, K., Mroczek, B. (2016). Frequent Attenders with Chronic Respiratory Diseases in Primary Care Settings. In: Pokorski, M. (eds) Advancements in Clinical Research. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology(), vol 952. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/5584_2016_63

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