Anders Helles Carlsen

Symptoms as the main problem in primary care: A cross-sectional study of frequency and characteristics

Abstract Objective. The aim was to study symptoms managed as the main problem by the general practitioner (GP) and to describe the frequencies and characteristics of presented symptoms when no specific diagnosis could be made. Design. Cross- sectional study. Setting. General practices in the Central Denmark Region. Subjects. In total, 397 GPs included patients with face-to-face contacts during one randomly assigned day in 2008–2009; 7008 patients were included and 5232 presented with a health problem. Main outcome measures. GPs answered a questionnaire after each patient contact. Symptoms and specific diagnoses were subsequently classified using the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC). Symptom frequency, comorbidity, consultation length, and GP-assessed final outcome and burden of consultations were analysed. Results. The GPs could not establish a specific diagnosis in 36% of patients with health problems. GPs expected that presented symptoms would not result in a future specific diagnosis for half of these patients. Musculoskeletal (lower limb and back) and respiratory (cough) symptoms were most frequent. More GPs had demanding consultations when no specific diagnosis could be made. Higher burden was associated with age, comorbidity, and GP expectancy of persistent symptoms when no diagnosis could be made. Conclusion. Interpretation and management of symptoms is a key task in primary care. As symptoms are highly frequent in general practice, symptoms without a specific diagnosis constitute a challenge to GPs. Nevertheless, symptoms have been given little priority in research. More attention should be directed to evidence-based management of symptoms as a generic phenomenon to ensure improved outcomes in the future.

All-cause mortality and pharmacological treatment intensity following a high risk screening program for diabetes. A 6.6 year follow-up of the ADDITION study, Denmark

AIM To study all-cause mortality and pharmacological treatment intensity in relation to baseline glucose metabolism and HbA1c following high risk screening for diabetes in primary care. METHODS Persons aged 40-69 years (N=163,185) received mailed diabetes risk questionnaires. 20,916 persons without diabetes but with high risk of diabetes were stratified by glucose metabolism (normal glucose tolerance (NGT), dysglycemia (IFG or IGT) or diabetes) and by HbA1c at screening (<6%, 6.0-6.4% or ≥ 6.5%). Median follow-up was 6.6 years. Excess mortality was calculated by hazard ratio. RESULTS HR for all-cause mortality increased with increasing levels of HbA1c at screening in people with NGT and dysglycemia. In people with screen detected diabetes the opposite relation was found. In people with diabetes redeemed prescription rates for lipid-, blood pressure- and glucose-lowering drugs increased significantly following screening and prescription rates increased with increasing levels of HbA1c at screening. The same trend in redeemed prescriptions was seen for people with dysglycemia and NGT, but the absolute rates were significantly lower than those among people with screen detected diabetes. CONCLUSIONS This study confirms HbA1c as an independent predictor of all-cause mortality in non-diabetic individuals. A likely explanation for the inverse relation found between all-cause mortality and HbA1c at screening among those with screen detected diabetes would be that intensive treatment near-normalizes mortality. The small group of people with NGT and HbA1c ≥ 6.5%, who had the highest all-cause mortality, may benefit from being labelled and treated as having diabetes although this group may have special characteristics not accounted for in this study.

The prognosis of bodily distress syndrome: a cohort study in primary care.

OBJECTIVE Bodily distress syndrome (BDS) is a newly proposed diagnosis for functional disorders. The diagnosis is based on empirical research, but little is known about the course of the disease. We aimed to study the prognosis in terms of diagnosis stability over time. METHOD A longitudinal study of 1356 primary care patients with 2-year follow-up was conducted in the Central Denmark Region. Data were obtained from family physician registration forms, patient questionnaires (including a BDS checklist) and nationwide registries. Complete data were available for 1001 patients (73.8%). RESULTS Overall, 146 persons [14.6%, 95% confidence interval (CI): 12.5-16.9] fulfilled the criteria for BDS at baseline and 142 persons (14.2%, CI: 12.1-16.5) at follow-up. Among study participants with BDS at baseline, 56.8% (CI: 48.4-65.0) also had BDS at follow-up. Multiorgan BDS tended to be more persistent (81.8%, CI: 48.2-97.7) than single-organ BDS (54.8%, CI: 46.0-63.4). Patients with BDS had fewer socioeconomic resources, experienced more emotional distress, and used more opioids and medical services. CONCLUSIONS BDS is a common clinical condition being prone to chronicity; one in seven primary care patients met the criteria for BDS, and more than half of these patients still suffered from BDS 2 years later.

AMAP assessment 2015: human health in the Arctic

No abstract available. (Published: 13 December 2016) Citation: Int J Circumpolar Health 2016, 75: 33949 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v75.33949

Patient characteristics and frequency of bodily distress syndrome in primary care: a cross-sectional study

Background Bodily distress syndrome (BDS) is a newly proposed diagnosis of medically unexplained symptoms, which is based on empirical research in primary care. Aim To estimate the frequency of BDS in primary care and describe the characteristics of patients with BDS. Design and setting A cross-sectional study of primary care patients in urban and rural areas of Central Denmark Region. Method Data were obtained from GP one-page registration forms, patient questionnaires (including a checklist for BDS), and national registers. Results A total of 1356 primary care patients were included, of whom 230 patients (17.0%, 95% confidence intervals [CI] = 15.0 to 19.1) fulfilled the BDS criteria. BDS was more common among primary care patients aged 41–65 years (odds ratio [OR] = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.3 to 3.0) and was equally frequent among males and females (female sex, OR 0.9, 95% CI = 0.6 to 1.3). Patients with BDS were characterised by poor health-related quality of life (HRQOL) on the 12-item Short-Form Health Survey, that is, physical component summary scores <40 (OR 20.5, 95% CI = 12.9 to 32.4) and mental component summary scores <40 (OR 3.5, 95% CI = 2.2 to 5.6). Furthermore, patients with BDS were more likely to have high scores on the Symptom Checklist for anxiety (OR 2.2, 95% CI = 1.4 to 3.4) and depression (OR 5.1, 95% CI = 3.3 to 7.9), but regression analyses showed that mental morbidity did not account for the poor HRQOL. Conclusion BDS is common among primary care patients, and patients with BDS have a higher probability of poor HRQOL and mental health problems.

Variation in prescribing of lipid‐lowering medication in primary care is associated with incidence of cardiovascular disease and all‐cause mortality in people with screen‐detected diabetes: findings from the ADDITION‐Denmark trial

To examine variation between general practices in the prescription of lipid‐lowering treatment to people with screen‐detected Type 2 diabetes, and associations with practice and participant characteristics and risk of cardiovascular events and all‐cause mortality.

Symptoms as the main problem: a cross- sectional study of patient experience in primary care

BackgroundSymptoms are common in primary care. Besides providing thorough assessment of possible severe disease, the general practitioner (GP) must ensure good health care to all patients, irrespective of diagnoses. We aimed to explore patient satisfaction with the provided care and how well expectations in patients were met when no diagnosis was made during the consultation.MethodCross-sectional study based on a questionnaire survey conducted in 2008–2009 among 377 GPs and their patients in the Central Denmark Region. A total of 2286 patients completed a questionnaire after the consultation (response rate: 54 %). The questionnaire included four satisfaction items from the EUROPEP instrument and a question about unmet expectations. For each patient, the GP answered a one-page registration form including information about the main problem in the consultation, chronic disorders and assessment of prognosis. Statistical analyses were adjusted for patient characteristics and GP clustering.ResultsA higher proportion of patients reported illness worry (20 vs. 17 %, p-value: 0.005), unmet expectations (17 vs. 13 %, p-value: 0.019) and dissatisfaction with their GP after the consultation when no diagnosis was made. Dissatisfaction was primarily related to the medical examination (adjusted OR 1.30; 95 % CI: 1.06–1.60) and GP explanations (adjusted OR 1.40; 95 % CI: 1.14–1.71). Exploratory analyses revealed an association between dissatisfaction with examination and the GP assessment that symptoms were unrelated to biomedical disease. This association was found both in patients with ‘symptoms only’ and patients given a specific diagnosis.ConclusionGPs are challenged by patients presenting symptoms that do not fit the patterns of biomedical diagnoses. The current study demonstrates more illness worry, unmet expectations and dissatisfaction with the consultation in these patients compared to patients receiving a diagnosis. This trend is true for all patients assessed as having ‘symptoms only’ at the end of a consultation and not only for the minority group with ‘medically unexplained symptoms’. As primary care is the frontline of the health-care system, symptoms are managed as the main problem in almost one in three consultations. It is about time that we take the same professional approach to symptoms as we have done for years to biomedical disease.

Association of GPs’ risk attitudes, level of empathy, and burnout status with PSA testing in primary care

Background Rates of prostate specific antigen (PSA) test ordering vary among GPs. Aim To examine whether GPs’ risk attitude, level of empathy, and burnout status are associated with PSA testing. Design and setting Register and questionnaire study including 129 solo GPs (active in the Central Denmark Region) and 76 672 of their adult male patients with no history of or current prostate cancer diagnosis. Method PSA tests from 2012 were retrieved from a register and classified as incident (that is, the first PSA test within 24 months), repeated normal, or repeated raised tests. This was merged with information on GPs’ risk attitudes, empathy, and burnout status from a 2012 survey. Results Patients registered with a GP with a high score on anxiety caused by uncertainty (odds ratio [OR] 1.03, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.00 to 1.06, P = 0.025) or concern about bad outcomes (OR 1.04; 95% CI = 1.00 to 1.08, P = 0.034) were more likely to have an incident PSA test, whereas those registered with a GP with increased tolerance for ambiguity were less likely (OR 0.98, 95% CI = 0.96 to 1.00, P = 0.025). Patients registered with a GP reporting high tolerance for ambiguity (OR 0.96, 95% CI = 0.94 to 0.99, P = 0.009) or high propensity to risk-taking (OR 0.97, 95% CI = 0.93 to 1.00, P = 0.047) were less likely to have a repeated normal PSA test. Conclusion Various aspects of GPs’ risk-taking attitudes were associated with patients’ probability of having an incident and a repeated normal PSA test. The probability of having a repeated raised PSA test was not influenced by any of the psychological factors. Burnout and empathy were not associated with PSA testing.

Patients with cancer and change of general practice: a Danish population-based cohort study.

BACKGROUND General practice plays an important role in the cancer care pathway. Patient dissatisfaction with the diagnostic process may be expressed by changing to another general practice. AIM To compare the frequency of change of practice (COP) in patients with cancer (n = 150 216) with a matched cancer-free control cohort (n = 1 502 114) and to analyse associations with cancer type and patient characteristics. DESIGN AND SETTING A population-based matched cohort study using historical and prospectively collected data from Danish nationwide registers. METHOD COP was defined as a change of practice list, unrelated to change of address or reorganisation of the practice. Data were analysed monthly in the year before and after a cancer diagnosis. RESULTS More patients with cancer than controls changed general practice (4.1% versus 2.6%) from 7 months before and until 12 months after diagnosis. The COP rate varied by cancer type (rectal cancer served as reference). Before the diagnosis, COP was most often seen among patients with ovarian cancer (risk ratio [RR] 1.51, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.10 to 2.08) and multiple myeloma (RR 1.89, 95% CI = 1.34 to 2.67). After the diagnosis, COP was most frequent among patients with brain cancer (RR 1.38, 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.82) and ovarian cancer (RR 1.51, 95% CI = 1.21 to 1.88). CONCLUSION Patients with cancer changed general practice more frequently than the cancer-free controls. COP variations between cancer types may be attributed to lack of diagnostic timeliness due to clinical complexity of the diagnosis and the role of the GP in the diagnostic process.

Effect of a participant‐driven health education programme in primary care for people with hyperglycaemia detected by screening: 3‐year results from the Ready to Act randomized controlled trial (nested within the ADDITION‐Denmark study)

To assess whether a 12‐week participant‐driven health education programme offered to individuals with screening‐detected hyperglycaemia in Danish primary care would lead to improvements in cardiovascular risk factors, health behaviour and patient‐reported outcomes after 3 years.