E.H. van de Lisdonk

Multimorbidity in primary care: Prevalence and trend over the last 20 years

Objective: To determine the prevalence of multimorbidity in primary care, by age, sex, and socio-economic class, and to analyse the trend in multimorbidity over the last 20 years. Methods: We performed an observational study using data from the Continuous Morbidity Registration (CMR) Nijmegen. This registration includes approximately 13 500 enlisted patients. To study the distribution of multimorbidity by age, sex, and socio-economic class, we analysed all patients enlisted in the CMR in 2005. To analyse the trend of multimorbidity over time, we studied the prevalence of multimorbidity from 1985 to 2005. Results: We found that increasing age, female sex, and low socio-economic class are associated with an increasing number of patients with multimorbidity. The prevalence of chronic diseases doubled between 1985 and 2005. The proportion of patients with four or more chronic diseases increased in this period by approximately 300%. Conclusion: The increasing amount of multimorbidity in primary care as well as the increasing number of chronic diseases per patient leads to more complex medical care. The general practitioner needs guidelines focusing on multimorbidity to support this care. The registration of chronic diseases by the general practitioner will become more complex and time-consuming.

Comorbidity of chronic diseases in general practice

With the increasing number of elderly people in The Netherlands the prevalence of chronic diseases will rise in the next decades. It is recognized in general practice that many older patients suffer from more than one chronic disease (comorbidity). The aim of this study is to describe the extent of comorbidity for the following diseases: hypertension, chronic ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic nonspecific lung disease, osteoarthritis. In a general practice population of 23,534 persons, 1989 patients have been identified with one or more chronic diseases. Only diseases in agreement with diagnostic criteria were included. In persons of 65 and older 23% suffer from one or more of the chronic diseases under study. Within this group 15% suffer from more than one of the chronic diseases. Osteoarthritis and diabetes mellitus are the diseases with the highest rate of comorbidity. Comorbidity restricts the external validity of results from single-disease intervention studies and complicates the organization of care.

Different study criteria affect the prevalence of benzodiazepine use

Background Different prevalences of benzodiazepine (BZ) use are described in the literature. The present study assessed the effects of employing various definitions of BZ use and various observation periods on the prevalence rate of BZ use in an open population aged 18–74 years. Method In a literature review, prevalence studies were systematically compared. In a second stage, a descriptive cross-sectional multipractice study was analysed using 48,046 prescriptions of BZ in the past year given to a population of 80,315 patients at 31 general practices in the Nijmegen Health Area. From this database, prevalence rates were calculated applying different definitions of BZ use and different observation periods. Results In the literature, prevalence rates varied between 2.2 and 17.6 %. There was wide variation in definitions of BZ use and observation period. In our prescription database, depending on the definitions of BZ use and observation period, prevalence rates ranged from 0.2 % to 8.9 %. The ratio of female:male (2:1) remained constant irrespective of the prevalence rate. Age distribution varied according to the duration of use: among long-term BZ users, approximately 80 % were older than 45 years; among short-term BZ users, approximately 55 % were older than 45 years. Conclusions The wide variation in prevalence rates of BZ use reported in the literature can largely be explained by differences in definitions of BZ use and observation period. This affected the distribution of some BZ-use-related variables such as age. For reliable comparisons of BZ use, standardisation of the definition of BZ use is required. A proposal for standardising methodology is presented.

Review article: symptom improvement through eradication of Helicobacter pylori in patients with non‐ulcer dyspepsia

The aim of this article is to determine, by reviewing the literature, whether treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection in patients with non‐ulcer dyspepsia affects symptoms. Ten publications were identified through a computerized and manual literature search, and the percentage of patients with symptom improvement after successful or unsuccessful eradication therapy for H. pylori infection was calculated. In the 10 studies, symptom improvement after treatment was found in 73% of the patients that became H. pylori‐negative and 45% of the patients that remained H. pylori‐positive. Symptom improvement was modified by various clinical features and methodological aspects. If eradication of H. pylori failed, symptoms only improved over a short period. Symptom improvement was more pronounced in dyspeptic patients in whom H. pylori was eradicated than in those in whom H. pylori infection persisted.

Randomized controlled trial of omeprazole or endoscopy in patients with persistent dyspepsia: a cost‐effectiveness analysis

Cost‐effectiveness analysis, Helicobacter pylori research and the development of proton pump inhibitors are having an increasing impact on the management of dyspepsia. However, clinical trials have not always included both H. pylori diagnosis and proton pump inhibitors in their protocols.

Limited validity of the American College of Rheumatology criteria for classifying patients with gout in primary care

In order to classify gout without identification of monosodium urate (MSU) crystals, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) formulated criteria in 1977.1 Of the 11 criteria, ≥6 have to be present to classify patients as having gout. The criteria were not developed with reference to MSU crystals, nor were they tested properly afterwards against this gold standard.1,–,3 However, as they are widely used and cited, testing their validity is critical to our ability to understand and treat gout.4 Many studies of gout include patients with ‘self-reported gout’, provided they fulfil the ACR criteria. Most self-reported diagnoses of gout will originate from a diagnosis made by a family physician as most patients presenting with acute gout are managed by them.2 5 This makes the primary care setting particularly relevant to test the ACR criteria. We designed a prospective study in a Dutch primary care population (∼200 000 subjects) to estimate the validity of the ACR criteria (patient recruitment 2004–6). We used identified MSU …

Ziekten in de huisartspraktijk

In 1971 werd de eerste continue morbiditeitregistratie in Nederland gestart, de CMR-Nijmegen. Sindsdien leggen de huisartsen uit de vier deelnemende praktijken alle gezondheidsstoornissen vast die de patienten uit deze praktijken doormaken en die bij hen zijn vastgesteld door de eigen huisarts, waarnemend huisartsen, praktijkassistenten en medisch specialisten. Uitgaande van dit inmiddels zeer grote en rijke databestand beschrijven de CMRartsen in dit boek meer dan 150 ziekten en aandoeningen. Zij bespreken klinisch beeld, beloop, prognose en behandeling in relatie tot de epidemiologische kenmerken van deze ziekten en aandoeningen. Centraal staan de veranderingen in de frequentie van voorkomen in de loop van de registratieperiode en de incidentie- en prevalentiecijfers naar leeftijd en geslacht. Deze worden, waar relevant, aangevuld met gegevens over het voorkomen naar jaargetijde en sociaal-economische klasse. In deze vijfde druk van Ziekten in de huisartspraktijk zijn de registratiegegevens van 1985 tot en met 2006 opgenomen en de nieuwste inzichten verwerkt. Bovendien zijn de teksten aangescherpt en gestroomlijnd met de inhoud van de NHGstandaarden.

Gout, not induced by diuretics? A case-control study from primary care

Background: It is taken for granted that diuretics may induce gout, but there is a general lack of evidence on this topic. Objectives: To determine the incidence of gout in patients who use diuretics, taking into account concurrent hypertension and cardiovascular diseases. Methods: A case-control study was designed. From a primary care population all patients with a first gout registration (59 men, 11 women; mean (SD) age 55.1 (13.5)) were identified as cases. To relate the occurrence of gout to diuretic use a matched reference series of three controls for each case was compiled. Conditional logistic regression analyses were applied to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRRs) of gout, and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), in subjects with and without diuretic treatment, hypertension, and cardiovasculardiseases. Additional stratification analyses were made, particularly in the subjects not using diuretics. Results: The IRRs of gout in subjects with v those without diuretic treatment, hypertension, heart failure, and myocardial infarction were 2.8 (95% CI 1.2 to 6.6), 2.6 (95% CI 1.2 to 5.6), 20.9 (95% CI 2.5 to 173.8), and 1.9 (95% CI 0.7 to 4.7), respectively. After adjustment, the IRR of gout for diuretic use dropped to 0.6 (95% CI 0.2 to 2.0), while the IRRs of gout for hypertension, heart failure, and myocardial infarction were still >1. This was also the case for subjects with hypertension or myocardial infarction, who had not used diuretics. Conclusion: The results suggest that diuretics do not actually increase the risk of gout. Cardiovascular indications for treatment may have confounded previous inferences.

Predictors of long-term benzodiazepine abstinence in participants of a randomized controlled benzodiazepine withdrawal program

Objective: To identify predictors of resumed benzodiazepine use after participation in a benzodiazepine discontinuation trial. Method: We performed multiple Cox regression analyses to predict the long-term outcome of a 3-condition, randomized, controlled benzodiazepine discontinuation trial in general practice. Results: Of 180 patients, we completed follow-up for 170 (94%). Of these, 50 (29%) achieved long-term success, defined as no use of benzodiazepines during follow-up. Independent predictors of success were as follows: offering a taper-off program with group therapy (hazard ratio [HR] 2.4; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.5 to 3.9) or without group therapy (HR 2.9; 95%CI, 1.8 to 4.8); a lower daily benzodiazepine dosage at the start of tapering off (HR 1.5; 95%CI, 1.2 to 1.9); a substantial dosage reduction by patients themselves just before the start of tapering off (HR 2.1; 95%CI, 1.4 to 3.3); less severe benzodiazepine dependence, as measured by the Benzodiazepine Dependence Self-Report Questionnaire Lack of Compliance subscale (HR 2.4; 95%CI, 1.1 to 5.2); and no use of alcohol (HR 1.7; 95%CI, 1.2 to 2.5). Patients who used over 10 mg of diazepam equivalent, who had a score of 3 or more on the Lack of Compliance subscale, or who drank more than 2 units of alcohol daily failed to achieve long-term abstinence. Conclusions: Benzodiazepine dependence severity affects long-term taper outcome independent of treatment modality, benzodiazepine dosage, psychopathology, and personality characteristics. An identifiable subgroup needs referral to specialized care.

VALIDITY OF DIAGNOSES OF CHRONIC DISEASES IN GENERAL PRACTICE THE APPLICATION OF DIAGNOSTIC CRITERIA

Certainty of a diagnosis is not only important for the patient but also for morbidity studies. In the absence of a gold standard, agreement with diagnostic criteria is often the best approach in measuring the certainty of a diagnosis. The agreement with diagnostic criteria has been studied for 5 chronic diseases (hypertension, chronic ischemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic nonspecific lung disease and osteoarthritis) in 7 general practices with a total practice population of 23,534 persons. Agreement with diagnostic criteria is operationalized into 3 categories. For each chronic disease a diagnostic quality measure per general practitioner is computed. Retrospective data have been collected in the practices on 2295 diseases in 1989 patients. Two-thirds of the diagnoses were made in general practice. The agreement with the diagnostic criteria for the cases diagnosed in general practice is high, ranging from 96% true positive cases in diabetes mellitus to 58% in chronic nonspecific lung disease. The highest rate of false positive cases is 4%. On the level of general practitioners diagnostic qualities vary from 62 to 96% true positive cases for the different diseases. The variation in diagnostic quality between general practitioners is substantial. The prevalence rates for the 5 chronic diseases are lower after adjustment by only including true positive cases. Diagnoses of the 5 chronic diseases recorded in general practice are generally valid with low numbers of false positive cases.