[A meeting of general practitioners in Jerusalem. Good physician-patient relations lead to higher quality of care].
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Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to G Sjönell.
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In 48 individuals with a wide range of arm circumferences blood pressure measured indirectly with two different cuffs was compared to direct intraarterial measurements. The two cuffs were a standard size cuff (12 X 35 cm) and a newly developed cuff, containing three rubber bags of different sizes, which automatically selects the appropriately sized bag in relation to arm circumference (Tricuff, Pressure Group AB, Sweden). The Tricuff correctly placed 42 of the 43 patients in the "normotensive" range, ie, diastolic blood pressure less than 90 mm Hg, whereas the standard cuff put only 33 of 44 patients in this range (P less than .005). The discrepancy was not only due to the expected better performance in patients with obese arms, but also in the subgroup of patients with arms in the range 22 to 31 cm, in which group both cuffs would measure blood pressure with a 12 cm wide rubber bag. The number of correctly identified "normotensive" patients was noticeably higher with the Tricuff than with the standard cuff (30/31 v 25/32, P = .053). The better specificity of the new cuff thus offers an improvement over the standard cuff. There are several potential clinical advantages of this, mainly that the risk of erroneously labelling normotensive individuals as hypertensive is reduced.
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This article surveys the gradual diffusion of diagnostic technologies into homes in Sweden. The author speculates on the advantages and prospective problems of home care. In addition, the article proposes some general guides to assure that new technologies provide genuine benefits for the patient.
The aim of the study was to describe the changes in the way the population in the catchment area of one parish in Stockholm utilized the available out-patient services after primary health care in the area had been expanded by establishing the Matteus health centre. Primary health care resources in the district expanded from two district physicians, one assistant physician and four district nurses before the project started to 7.5 district physicians, 15 district nurses plus other assistant personnel. A controlled longitudinal before and after design was used over a period of four years, 1978-81. The results showed that the population in the study district doubled the number of visits to district physicians and nurses after establishment of the health centre. Visits to hospital out-patient clinics were reduced by 26% (40% reduction for emergency visits and 16% for polyclinic appointments). Visits to nonpublic employed physicians (private, occupational and school health physicians) decreased by 31% after establishment of the Matteus health centre. Furthermore the population decreased their utilization of the Stockholm emergency car service by 28%. These results support the workload reduction hypothesis--that an expansion of primary health care leads to a reduction of the workload of hospitals, and not an overall increase in utilization of health care.
The Swedish National Health and Medical Care program is currently undergoing a change. The aim of this gradual change is a more decentralized system where the primary care service is expanded to cater for the transfer of patients from the hospitals over to primary care. This study, which is one part of a longitudinal design aims to show changes in public utilization of the services of general practitioners and district nurses after the expansion of the Matteus Primary Health Care Centre (MPHCC), city of Stockholm. The analysis is based partly on the annual statistical records and partly on medical chart studies of visits to the general practitioner by a selected population. The results showed that the population in the study district made twice as many visits to general practitioners and district nurses after the establishment of the MPHCC. It was also shown that the number of individuals visiting the general practitioners more than doubled during an 18-month period following the expansion of MPHCC. These results corresponds well with the aims associated with the expansion in primary care in future medical care services.
The expansion of the primary care services and its effect on utilization of the out-patient services in hospitals by the public have been analysed by a number of authors. Evaluation of the links vary: some studies state that an expansion of primary care goes together with an increase or an unchanged utilization of hospital visits - out-patient clinics, while others say that a decrease occurs. The present study analyses this problem in Stockholm city. This study has a longitudinal design and it covers a study district and a control district. The results support the hypothesis that the expansion of primary care in the study area results in a significant decrease in hospital visits in this area. The decrease occurred in most age groups among men as well as women, regardless of the type of visit (emergency or by appointment); it also occurred in the usual speciality areas in the general practitioner's everyday work.
In 1979 Stockholm County Council began a study of increased primary health care (PHC) at Matteus Primary Health Care Centre (MPHCC) in Stockolm city. The aims were to analyse changes in utilization of out-patient care (OPC). This article analyses the changes in the population's visits to non-public employed physicians. The study has a longitudinal design and covers a study and two control districts. The method is an enquiry before and after establishment of the MPHCC in the northern part of Stockholm city. In this study it was shown that increased PHC in the study district resulted in a significant decrease (27%) of the population's visits to private-, occupational- and school health physicians. Furthermore, the study shows a significant decrease of the number of individuals in the study district who visit these non-public employed physicians during a 12-month-period.
The Matteus Primary Health Care Centre (MPHCC) is a pilot project with fullscale established future primary health care. Before the project began, the average district of a general practitioner consisted of 9 000 inhabitants. After the start of MPHCC the district level was 3 000 inhabitants per general practitioner in the study district. The populations utilization of the Stockholm emergency car service (SCS) has been analysed both before and after the establishing of the MPHCC in the northern inner city of Stockholm. The results confirm the hypotheses that the establishment of MPHCC reduces the workload on the SCS by 24%. The reduction is significant in all ages and for both men and women. The main period of the reduction is on weekdays 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. when the MPHCC is open.
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