Bmc Fam Pract
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Observational Study
Characteristics of a COVID-19 confirmed case series in primary care (COVID-19-PC project): a cross-sectional study.
To estimate the prevalence of symptoms and signs related to a COVID-19 case series confirmed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for SARS-CoV-2. Risk factors and the associated use of health services will also be analysed. ⋯ Symptoms and risk factors in our case series are similar to those in other studies. There was a high number of patients with atypical unilateral or bilateral pneumonia. Care for COVID has required a high use of healthcare resources such as clinical encounters and work leaves.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Identifying and measuring the behavioural, dietary, and physical activity components of weight management consultations delivered by general practice nurses in routine care.
Many people with obesity receive weight loss consultations by general practice nurses (GPNs) in routine primary care. This exploratory study aimed to characterise the components of these consultations, including behaviour change techniques (BCTs), and dietary and physical activity recommendations. ⋯ The study provides a new method that could be used to describe the content of weight management consultations. Specific dietary or physical activity recommendations and BCTs were used infrequently and inconsistently in this group of GPNs. Although replication is required in larger samples, this may point to a weakness in current practice.
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Patients in need of palliative care often want to reside at home. Providing palliative care requires resources and a high level of competence in primary care. The Norwegian guideline for palliative care points to the central role of the regular general practitioner (RGP), specifying a high expected level of competence. Guideline implementation is known to be challenging in primary care. This study investigates adherence to the guideline, the RGPs experience with, and view of their role in palliative care. ⋯ This study demonstrated low adherence of the RGPs, to the Norwegian guideline for palliative care. Guideline requirements may not correspond with the methods of general practice, making them difficult to adopt. The RGPs seemed to have too few clinical cases over time to maintain skills at a complex and specialized level. Yet, there seems to be a great potential for the RGP, with the inherent specialist skills of the general practitioner, to be a key worker in the palliative care trajectory.
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About 0.9 billion people in the world have hypertension. The mortality due to hypertension increased dramatically over the last decades. Healthcare professionals should support patients with hypertension to modify their lifestyle to decrease blood pressure, but an overview of effective lifestyle interventions is lacking. The aim of this study was to determine whether healthcare professional-led interventions on lifestyle modifications are effective in lowering blood pressure in patients with hypertension. ⋯ Healthcare professional-led interventions were effective. Patients achieved almost 5 mmHg decrease of SBP and more patients achieved BP control. The results suggest that efforts are needed for widespread implementation.
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Community-dwelling older people are frequently affected by vertigo, dizziness and balance disorders (VDB). We previously developed a care pathway (CPW) to improve their mobility and participation by offering standardized approaches for general practitioners (GPs) and physical therapists (PTs). We aimed to assess the feasibility of the intervention, its implementation strategy and the study procedures in preparation for the subsequent main trial. ⋯ Although the process evaluation provided good support for the feasibility of study procedures, the intervention and its implementation strategy, we identified a need for improvement in recruitment of participants, the GP intervention part and the data collection procedures. The findings will inform the main trial to test the interventions effectiveness in a cluster RCT.