Scandinavian journal of primary health care
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Jun 2023
Increased demand of urine cultures from Danish general practice: a five-year register-based study.
To characterise and explore the development in the number and content of urine samples sent from general practice in the North Denmark Region to the Department of Clinical Microbiology (DCM) at Aalborg University Hospital during a five-year period. ⋯ During the past five years an increasing amount of urine cultures have been requested at DCM from general practice. Importantly, the cause(s) of this increasing demand needs to be explored further in future studies.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Jun 2023
Sex and gender differences in primary care help-seeking for common somatic symptoms: a longitudinal study.
Women are reported to consult general practitioners (GPs) more frequently than men. However, previous studies on sex differences in help-seeking behavior for somatic symptoms do not distinguish between sex and gender, do not account for sex differences in presented symptoms, and are frequently conducted in clinical settings, automatically excluding non-help seekers. Therefore, we aim to assess the independent associations of sex and gender with primary care help-seeking for somatic symptoms in the general population. ⋯ The results suggest that female sex rather than feminine gender is associated with primary care help-seeking behavior for somatic symptoms. Nevertheless, clinicians should be aware that gender-related variables, such as mean paid working days, may be associated with help-seeking behavior.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Jun 2023
Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with low back pain in primary and secondary care settings in Southern Denmark.
To describe and compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with acute or chronic low back pain across all health care settings treating this condition.Design and setting: Concurrent prospective survey registration of all consecutive consultations regarding low back pain at general practitioners, chiropractors, physiotherapists, and the secondary care spine centre in Southern Denmark. ⋯ The demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with low back pain differ considerably across the health care settings treating them.KEY POINTSThe study describes the symptoms and clinical findings of patients with low back pain consulting the Danish health care system in all its settings.Patients with chiropractors were youngest, while those with physiotherapists were the oldest and most frequently female.First consultations in general practice were generally with the least symptomatic patients while those returning for a subsequent consultation had more severe disease including more sick leave compared to patients in the other primary care settings.Our findings call for caution when generalizing between health care settings for patients with low back pain.
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Scand J Prim Health Care · Jun 2023
Disparities in prevalence of heart failure between the genders in relation to age, multimorbidity and socioeconomic status in southern Sweden: a cross-sectional study.
Prior studies have reported that heart failure typically affects elderly, multimorbid and socioeconomically deprived men. Women with heart failure are generally older, have a higher EF (ejection fraction) and have more heart failure-related symptoms than men. This study explored the disparities in the prevalence of heart failure between men and women in relation to age, multimorbidity level and socioeconomic status of the population in southern Sweden. ⋯ The prevalence of heart failure differs significantly between the genders. Men had an increasing mean probability of heart failure with advancing age and multimorbidity level compared to women. Socioeconomic deprivation was more strongly associated with heart failure in women than in men. The probability of having heart failure differs between the genders in several aspects.Key PointsIndependently of socioeconomic status, men had a higher prevalence of heart failure than women among the multimorbid patients.The mean probability of men having heart failure increased significantly compared to women with advancing age and multimorbidity level.Socioeconomic status was more strongly associated with heart failure in women than in men.