Skip to main content

Table 3 Practice characteristics and association with out-of-hours primary care use, adjusted for patient characteristics

From: Association between general practice characteristics and use of out-of-hours GP cooperatives

Variable

Low use group

High use group

Odds ratioa

N (%)

N (%)

(95% CI)

Telephone accessibility

   

Waiting time on telephone (minutes)

   

 Mean (range)

1.04 (0–10)

1.97 (0–10)

1.26 (1.09-1.46)**

 Median (range)***

0.41 (0–10)

0.88 (0–10)

 

Telephone contact with assistantb possible (no answering machine) (hours a week)

   

 Mean (range)

36.1 (9–45)

35.3 (14–45)

1.06 (0.97-1.15)

Telephone lines (per 1000 pts)

   

 Mean (range)

1.3 (0.3-4.6)

1.4 (0.4-6.4)

1.51 (0.44-5.25)

Availability for consultations

   

Waiting time for non urgent consultations (days)

   

 Mean (range)

0.76 (0–5)

1.02 (0–5)

1.54 (0.67-3.53)

Consultation after 5 p.m. possible

14 (28.6)

8 (15.7)

0.42 (0.08-2.05)

Has telephone consulting hour

31 (63.3)

23 (45.1)

0.26 (0.05-1.34)

Open during holidays (with replacement)

24 (54.5)

15 (31.3)

0.42 (0.08-2.33)

Personally available for palliative patients (including out-of-hours)

41 (83.7)

25 (49.0)

0.22 (0.06-0.76)*

Clinician-hours (per 1000 pts)

   

 Mean (range)

11.1 (2.0-30.2)

12.6 (5.1-24.1)

0.98 (0.81-1.17)

GP characteristics

   

Age (years)

   

 Mean (range)

51.9 (34–63)

53.6 (36–65)

1.00 (0.89-1.12)

Gender: female

6 (12.2)

9 (17.6)

2.38 (0.19-30.07)

Years of employment as GP

   

 Mean (range)

19.8 (5–34)

21.6 (3–39)

1.00 (0.92-1.09)

Work satisfaction (score 1–10; 1 = low;10 = high)

   

 Mean (range)

7.8 (7–9)

8.0 (4–10)

2.41 (0.80-7.23)

High experienced workload

26 (53.1)

38 (74.5)

2.18 (0.40-11.90)

Speak to patients with unnecessary out-of-hours contacts

9 (18.8)

13 (25.5)

1.29 (0.21-7.86)

Practice organisation

   

Practice type: solo practice

32 (65.3)

27 (52.9)

0.95 (0.19-4.85)

Practice size (number of pts)

   

 Mean (range)

2459 (464–4103)

2511 (1295–4556)

1.00 (1.00-1.00)

Training in telephone triage for assistantsb

8 (16.7)

18 (35.3)

1.87 (0.39-8.98)

Number of contacts (per pt)c

   

 Mean (range)

4.4 (1.7-10.7)

5.2 (2.3-8.4)

1.44 (0.85-2.44)

Number of diagnostic tests and therapeutic procedures (per 1000 pts)d

   

 Mean (range)

74.4 (5.1-304.8)

119.6 (4.4-935.4)

1.02 (1.01-1.04)**

Presence of professionals (half days a week, per 1000 pts)

GPs

 Mean (range)

4.1 (2.1-8.8)

4.2 (1.9-10.5)

1.34 (0.66-2.75)

Assistantsb

   

 Mean (range)

4.9 (2.1-14.4)

5.5 (2.7-11.0)

1.71 (1.07-2.73)*

Nurse practitioners mental health

   

 Mean (range)

0.2 (0.0-5.2)

0.3 (0.0-4.2)

4.61 (0.35-61.24)

Nurse practitioners somatics

   

 Mean (range)

1.1 (0.0-5.2)

1.6 (0.0-4.7)

2.07 (0.99-4.32)

Physicians in training

   

 Mean (range)

0.5 (0.0-3.1)

0.5 (0.0-3.9)

0.94 (0.38-2.40)

  1. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001.
  2. aOdds ratios adjusted for: 1) geographical distance from the general practice to the GP cooperative, 2) percentage of patients aged 0 to 4 years, and 3) percentage of foreigners.
  3. bAssistants in Dutch general practices have administrative tasks, provide patient information, perform (telephone) triage and perform simple medical procedures (such as suturing, bandaging, giving injections, providing first aid and monitoring diabetic patients).
  4. cSum of telephone contacts, practice consultations, and home visits.
  5. dSum of six medical procedures, i.e. spirometry, electrocardiography, Doppler test, taping, intrauterine spiral, surgery.
Back to article page

BMC Primary Care

ISSN: 2731-4553

Contact us