Investigating the public's use of Scotland's primary care telephone advice service (NHS 24): a population-based cross-sectional study.

Background: There has been no comprehensive examination of the public's understanding of, and attitudes towards, NHS 24.

Aim: To investigate the public's use of NHS 24 and explore their understanding of, and beliefs about, the service.

Design And Setting: Population-based cross-sectional study of adults in Scotland.

Examining the role of Scotland's telephone advice service (NHS 24) for managing health in the community: analysis of routinely collected NHS 24 data.

Objectives: To examine the type, duration and outcome of the symptoms and health problems Scotland's nurse-led telephone advice service (NHS 24) is contacted about and explore whether these vary by time of contact and patient characteristics.

Design: Analysis of routinely collected NHS 24 data.

Setting: Scotland, UK.

Exploring preferences for symptom management in primary care: a discrete choice experiment using a questionnaire survey.

Background: Symptoms are important drivers for the use of primary care services. Strategies aimed at shifting the focus away from the GP have broadened the range of primary healthcare available.

Aim: To explore preferences for managing symptoms and investigate trade-offs that the public are willing to make when deciding between different primary care services.

Chronic kidney disease, a useful trigger for proactive primary care? Mortality results from a large U.K. cohort.

Background: Much of the emphasis for primary care management of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has focused on cardiovascular risk; however, many patients die of other causes. Aim. In order to guide future primary care management of CKD, we report the causes of death from a large U.

Incongruous consultation behaviour: results from a UK-wide population survey.

Background: Symptom characteristics are strong drivers of care seeking. Despite this, incongruous consultation behaviour occurs and has implications for both individuals and health-care services. The aim of this study was to determine how frequently incongruous consultation behaviour occurs, to examine whether it is more common for certain types of symptoms and to identify the factors associated with being an incongruous consulter.

Revisiting the symptom iceberg in today's primary care: results from a UK population survey.

Background: Recent changes in UK primary care have increased the range of services and healthcare professionals available for advice. Furthermore, the UK government has promoted greater use of both self-care and the wider primary care team for managing symptoms indicative of self-limiting illness. We do not know how the public has been responding to these strategies.

Ascertaining the size of the symptom iceberg in a UK-wide community-based survey.

Background: The symptom iceberg describes the phenomenon that most symptoms are managed in the community without people seeking professional health care. The size of the iceberg for many symptoms is unknown, as is their association with personal characteristics, including history of a chronic disease.

Aim: To ascertain the size of the symptom iceberg in the UK.

Early treatment with prednisolone or acyclovir in Bell's palsy.

Background: Corticosteroids and antiviral agents are widely used to treat the early stages of idiopathic facial paralysis (i.e., Bell's palsy), but their effectiveness is uncertain.