Accident and emergency consultations for head injuries in older adults.

Background: Head injuries are a common reason for hospitalisation, and patients often arrive via accident and emergency departments. This study aimed to investigate changes in accident and emergency consultations due to head injuries for patients ≥ 50 years.

Material And Method: Electronic reimbursement claims by accident and emergency doctors for.

Where do GPs seek help for their illnesses?

Background: Doctors generally enjoy good health, but often refrain from seeking help when they are ill. Self-treatment is widespread, and this can be an inappropriate and risky practice.

Material And Method: This is a registry study that compares GPs' own use of the primary and specialist health services in 2018 with a control group consisting of all others in the same age group with the same sex, level of education and health as the GPs.

The impact of variation in out-of-hours doctors' referral practices: a Norwegian registry-based observational study.

Background: In a gatekeeping system, the individual doctor's referral practice is an important factor for hospital activity and patient safety.

Objective: The aim of the study was to investigate the variation in out-of-hours (OOH) doctors' referral practice, and to explore these variations' impact on admissions for selected diagnoses reflecting severity, and 30-day mortality.

Methods: National data from the doctors' claims database were linked with hospital data in the Norwegian Patient Registry.

Construction and validation of a morbidity index based on the International Classification of Primary Care.

Objectives: In epidemiological studies it is often necessary to describe morbidity. The aim of the present study is to construct and validate a morbidity index based on the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2).

Design And Setting: This is a cohort study based on linked data from national registries.

Reasons for acute referrals to hospital from general practitioners and out-of-hours doctors in Norway: a registry-based observational study.

Background: General practitioners (GPs) and out-of-hours (OOH) doctors are gatekeepers to acute hospital admissions in many healthcare systems. The aim of the present study was to investigate the whole range of reasons for acute referrals to somatic hospitals from GPs and OOH doctors and referral rates for the most common reasons. We wanted to explore the relationship between some common referral diagnoses and the discharge diagnosis, and associations with patient's gender, age, and GP or OOH doctor referral.

Continuity in general practice as predictor of mortality, acute hospitalisation, and use of out-of-hours care: a registry-based observational study in Norway.

Background: Continuity, usually considered a quality aspect of primary care, is under pressure in Norway, and elsewhere.

Aim: To analyse the association between longitudinal continuity with a named regular general practitioner (RGP) and use of out-of-hours (OOH) services, acute hospital admission, and mortality.

Design And Setting: Registry-based observational study in Norway covering 4 552 978 Norwegians listed with their RGPs.

Correction to: General practitioners' and out-of-hours doctors' role as gatekeeper in emergency admissions to somatic hospitals in Norway: registry-based observational study.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via the original article.

Use of non-specific diagnostic codes in out-of-hours services.

Background: Primary care doctors put diagnostic codes on all reimbursement cards. The objective of this study was to map out the use of non-specific diagnostic codes that can undermine the validity of statistics and disease surveillance.

Material And Method: The material consists of data from all electronic reimbursement cards from out-of-hours services in the period 2008-2019.

Children with gastroenteritis attending emergency primary healthcare units before and after the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine.

Background: The rotavirus is the most frequent cause of severe diarrhoea in small children. The purpose of this study was to map emergency primary health care consultations due to gastroenteritis in small children before and after the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine on 1 October 2014.

Material And Method: The material consists of data from all electronic reimbursement claims from emergency primary health care doctors in the period 2010-18.

Children with otitis attending emergency primary health care units following introduction of pneumococcal vaccine.

Background: Otitis is a frequently occurring condition in young children and involves considerable use of antibiotics. The most common bacterial cause is pneumococci. The pneumococcal vaccine was introduced as part of the Childhood Immunisation Programme in Norway in 2006.

General practitioners' provision of end-of-life care and associations with dying at home: a registry-based longitudinal study.

Background: General practitioners (GPs) may play an important role in providing end-of-life care to community-dwelling people.

Objective: To investigate patients' contacts with GPs, GPs' interdisciplinary collaboration, out-of-hours services and hospitalizations in the last 13 weeks of life and associations with dying at home. Second, investigate whether GP contacts were associated with fewer out-of-hours contacts or days hospitalized.

Emergency primary health care consultations on Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and a normal Saturday.

Background: The objective was to compare the use of emergency primary health care services on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve to a normal Saturday.

Material And Method: The material comprises data obtained from reimbursement claims from all doctors on out-of-hours duty in Norway in the period 2008-18. The number of consultations and home visits, and the diagnoses set, were recorded for Christmas Eve, New Year's Eve and the last Saturday of January.

General practitioners' and out-of-hours doctors' role as gatekeeper in emergency admissions to somatic hospitals in Norway: registry-based observational study.

Background: Primary care doctors have a gatekeeper function in many healthcare systems, and strategies to reduce emergency hospital admissions often focus on general practitioners' (GPs') and out-of-hours (OOH) doctors' role. The aim of the present study was to investigate these doctors' role in emergency admissions to somatic hospitals in the Norwegian public healthcare system, where GPs and OOH doctors have a distinct gatekeeper function.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis was performed by linking data from the Norwegian Patient Registry (NPR) and the physicians' claims database.

Doctors' characteristics and the use of long consultations at out-of-hours services 2008-2017: a registry-based follow-up study in Norway.

The aim was to analyse whether there was a change in percentage of long consultations over a 10-year period, and whether individual doctors changed their use of time as they got more experience and specialisation during the same period. This is a registry based study encompassing all consultations in primary care out-of-hours service in Norway in 2008 and 2017. For both years all doctors were included in cross sectional analyses.

Frequent attenders at primary care out-of-hours services: a registry-based observational study in Norway.

Background: Out-of-hours (OOH) services are often consulted for problems that are non-urgent. Some of these patients are frequent attenders (FAs) who may constitute a heavy burden on the OOH service. The aim of the present study was to analyse FAs in a comprehensive material, covering all patients who have visited OOH services in Norway during a 10-year period.

Comparing unplanned and potentially planned home deaths: a population-based cross-sectional study.

Background: There is little research on number of planned home deaths. We need information about factors associated with home deaths, but also differences between planned and unplanned home deaths to improve end-of-life-care at home and make home deaths a feasible alternative. Our aim was to investigate factors associated with home deaths, estimate number of potentially planned home deaths, and differences in individual characteristics between people with and without a potentially planned home death.

Contacts with out-of-hours services because of poisonings in Norway 2006 - 15.

Background: Poisonings constitute a serious health problem in Norway. The objective of the study was to analyse cases of poisoning reported to out-of-hours services and any changes that may have occurred over a ten-year period.

Material And Method: The material consists of reimbursement claims from all doctors on out-of-hours duty in Norway in the period 2006 – 15.

Point-of-care ultrasonography in Norwegian out-of-hours primary health care.

Objective: The objective of this study is to determine the extent of ultrasound availability in Norwegian casualty clinics and estimate the prevalence of its use.

Design: A retrospective study based on a national casualty clinic registry and data from reimbursement claims.

Setting: Out-of-hours primary health care in Norway.

Factors predicting antibiotic prescription and referral to hospital for children with respiratory symptoms: secondary analysis of a randomised controlled study at out-of-hours services in primary care.

Objectives: Acute respiratory infections and fever among children are highly prevalent in primary care. It is challenging to distinguish between viral and bacterial infections. Norway has a relatively low prescription rate of antibiotics, but it is still regarded as too high as the antimicrobial resistance is increasing.

Cancer patients' use of primary care out-of-hours services: a cross-sectional study in Norway.

Objective: To investigate how cancer patients in Norway use primary care out-of-hours (OOH) services and describe different contact types and procedures.

Design: A retrospective cross-sectional registry study using a billing registry data source.

Setting: Norwegian primary care OOH services in 2014.