The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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Patients with chronic or complex medical or psychiatric conditions are treated by many practioners, including general practitioners (GPs). Formal liaison between primary and specialist is often assumed to offer benefits to patients. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of formal liaison of GPs with specialist service providers on patient health outcomes, by conducting a systematic review of the published literature in MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL and Cochrane Library databases using the following search terms: 'family physician': synonyms of 'patient care planning', 'patient discharge' and 'patient care team'; and synonyms of 'randomised controlled trials'. ⋯ Cost effectiveness could not be determined. In conclusion, formal liaison between GPs and specialist services leaves most physical health outcomes unchanged, but improves functional outcomes in chronically mentally ill patients. It may confer modest long-term health benefits through improvements in patient concordance with treatment programmes and more effective clinical practice.
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Review Meta Analysis
The natural history of acute cough in children aged 0 to 4 years in primary care: a systematic review.
Professional and parental uncertainty regarding the natural history of cough and respiratory tract infection (R77) in pre-school children may in part be responsible for the high consultation, reconsultation, and antibiotic prescribing rates in this age group. The aim of the study was to review the evidence about the natural history of acute cough in children aged between 0 and 4 years presenting to primary care in terms of illness duration and complications. The study was a systematic review, with qualitative and quantitative data synthesis, of control and placebo arms of systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials (RCTs), and cohort studies set in primary care. ⋯ Illness duration may be longer and complications higher than many parents and clinicians expect. This may help to set more realistic expectations of the illness and help parents to decide when and if to reconsult. This information may be useful to those designing patient information and self-help resources.
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Review Meta Analysis
The natural history of acute cough in children aged 0 to 4 years in primary care: a systematic review.
Professional and parental uncertainty regarding the natural history of cough and respiratory tract infection (R77) in pre-school children may in part be responsible for the high consultation, reconsultation, and antibiotic prescribing rates in this age group. The aim of the study was to review the evidence about the natural history of acute cough in children aged between 0 and 4 years presenting to primary care in terms of illness duration and complications. The study was a systematic review, with qualitative and quantitative data synthesis, of control and placebo arms of systematic reviews, randomised controlled trials (RCTs), and cohort studies set in primary care. ⋯ Illness duration may be longer and complications higher than many parents and clinicians expect. This may help to set more realistic expectations of the illness and help parents to decide when and if to reconsult. This information may be useful to those designing patient information and self-help resources.
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General practitioners' (GPs') advice against smoking has a small, beneficial effect on patients' smoking. Consequently, GPs have been urged to adopt a population-based approach to advice-giving that involves discussing smoking repeatedly with the maximum possible number of smokers. This discussion paper assesses how far GPs' current clinical practice is from a population-based approach to advice-giving and finds that GPs prefer a problem-orientated approach to advising those who present with smoking-related problems. Discussion focuses on the feasibility of suggesting that GPs adopt a population-based approach instead.
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To estimate the benefits of treatments other than antibiotics for acute sore throat, and the differences between non-antibiotic interventions and controls in patient-perceived pain of sore throat, a systematic review of controlled trials in Medline and the Cochrane Library was carried out. Sixty-six randomised controlled trials (with or without additional antibiotics) were identified and 17 met the selection criteria. ⋯ Some non-antibiotic treatments may be more effective than antibiotics; however, publication bias may have exaggerated the benefits. These treatments should be investigated further with respect to efficacy, safety, and side-effects as potential firstline management options for acute sore throat.