General practitioners' clinical decision-making in patients that could have cancer: a vignette study comparing the Baltic states with four Nordic countries.

Objective: Relative one-year cancer survival rates in the Baltic states are lower than the European mean; in the Nordic countries they are higher than the mean. This study investigated the likelihood of General Practitioners (GPs) investigating or referring patients with a low but significant risk of cancer in these two regions, and how this was affected by GP demographics.

Design: A survey of GPs using clinical vignettes.

Patient perceptions of the Finnish guidelines enabling coeliac disease diagnosis without biopsies in adults.

Objectives: Diagnosis of coeliac disease based on serology only has been allowed since 2018 in Finland for adults meeting specific criteria. We studied the patient experiences and perceptions of this novel diagnostic option.

Methods: Altogether 194 adult patients were questioned on socio-demographic and health-related characteristics, quality of life and various coeliac disease-related issues.

Triage Accuracy and the Safety of User-Initiated Symptom Assessment With an Electronic Symptom Checker in a Real-Life Setting: Instrument Validation Study.

Background: Previous studies have evaluated the accuracy of the diagnostics of electronic symptom checkers (ESCs) and triage using clinical case vignettes. National Omaolo digital services (Omaolo) in Finland consist of an ESC for various symptoms. Omaolo is a medical device with a Conformité Européenne marking (risk class: IIa), based on Duodecim Clinical Decision Support, EBMEDS.

Neutralisation techniques used by defendants charged with animal welfare offences in Finland.

Animal welfare offences encompass a heterogeneous range of crimes, including violence and various forms of negligence toward animals' needs. However, there is limited understanding of the offenders' rationalisations concerning their criminal behaviour against animals, despite this information being essential for enhancing the prevention of these crimes. Our data comprised 1,443 judgements in animal welfare offences in Finland between January 2011 and May 2021.

Feasibility of a noninvasive heart failure telemonitoring system: A mixed methods study.

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the feasibility of a noninvasive telemonitoring system used by heart failure patients and nurses in a pilot program of the Heart Hospital unit in Tampere, Finland.

Methods: This cross-sectional observational study used a mixed methods design. Quantitative data were collected with one self-generated questionnaire for patients, and qualitative data were collected with a questionnaire for patients and semi-structured focus group interviews for patients and nurses.

Primary care physicians' experiences of video and online chat consultations: a qualitative descriptive study.

Objectives: To explore the perceptions and views of remote consultations and patient care of primary care physicians (PCPs) who work remotely regularly and have experience performing remote consultations.

Design: A qualitative study using thematic analysis.

Setting: Four online focus group interviews with 17 PCPs, working with one private health care provider, with public and private primary care patients.

What would primary care practitioners do differently after a delayed cancer diagnosis? Learning lessons from their experiences.

Objective: Diagnosis of cancer is challenging in primary care due to the low incidence of cancer cases in primary care practice. A prolonged diagnostic interval may be due to doctor, patient or system factors, or may be due to the characteristics of the cancer itself. The objective of this study was to learn from Primary Care Physicians' (PCP) experiences of incidents when they had failed to think of, or act on, a cancer diagnosis.

Segmenting Patients With Diabetes With the Navigator Service in Primary Care and a Description of the Self-Acting Patient Group: Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: The aim of patient segmentation is to recognize patients with similar health care needs. The Finnish patient segmentation service Navigator segregates patients into 4 groups, including a self-acting group, who presumably manages their everyday life and coordinates their health care. Digital services could support their self-care.

Clinical value of cortical bursting in preterm infants with intraventricular haemorrhage.

Background: In healthy preterm infants, cortical burst rate and temporal dynamics predict important measures such as brain growth. We hypothesised that in preterm infants with germinal matrix-intraventricular haemorrhage (GM-IVH), cortical bursting could provide prognostic information.

Aims: We determined how cortical bursting was influenced by the injury, and whether this was related to developmental outcome.

Exploring why European primary care physicians sometimes do not think of, or act on, a possible cancer diagnosis. A qualitative study.

Background: While primary care physicians (PCPs) play a key role in cancer detection, they can find cancer diagnosis challenging, and some patients have considerable delays between presentation and onward referral.

Aim: To explore European PCPs' experiences and views on cases where they considered that they had been slow to think of, or act on, a possible cancer diagnosis.

Design & Setting: A multicentre European qualitative study, based on an online survey with open-ended questions, asking PCPs for their narratives about cases when they had missed a diagnosis of cancer.

Attitudes of primary healthcare chief physicians towards research in Finland - a national study.

Objective: To illustrate the views of chief physicians in Finnish primary healthcare health centres (HCs) on the existing research capacity of their centres, their attitudes to practice-based research network activity, and research topics of interest to them.

Design: A cross-sectional survey study.

Setting: Finnish HCs.

General practitioners' perceptions of using virtual primary care during the COVID-19 pandemic: An international cross-sectional survey study.

With the onset of COVID-19, general practitioners (GPs) and patients worldwide swiftly transitioned from face-to-face to digital remote consultations. There is a need to evaluate how this global shift has impacted patient care, healthcare providers, patient and carer experience, and health systems. We explored GPs' perspectives on the main benefits and challenges of using digital virtual care.

Association between university students' two-staged health screening and student health care utilisation: register based observational study.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore how university students' participation in a two-staged health screening at the beginning of university studies associates with student health care utilisation in a 6-year follow-up.

Design: Nationwide, observational, register-based cohort study with a 6-year follow-up.

Setting: Student health care in Finland.

Experiences of patients with fibromyalgia at a Finnish Health Centre: A qualitative study.

Background: Fibromyalgia is a functional syndrome. Despite recent findings, there is still considerable uncertainty about its diagnostic process.

Objectives: This study aimed to explore patients' experiences with fibromyalgia during the diagnostic process in primary health care.

Excess use of thyroid hormone treatment among patients with fibromyalgia: a cross-sectional study in primary health care.

Objective: From previous studies, it is known that the association between fibromyalgia and thyroid autoimmunity diseases exists. On the other hand, it was recently suggested that in many cases thyroid hormone treatment might be unnecessary. The aim of our study is to explore the thyroid hormone treatment among primary health care fibromyalgia patients.

Pluralistic task shifting for a more timely cancer diagnosis. A grounded theory study from a primary care perspective.

Objective: To explore how cancer could be diagnosed in a more timely way.

Design: Grounded theory analysis of primary care physicians' free text survey responses to: 'How do you think the speed of diagnosis of cancer in primary care could be improved?'. Secondary analysis of primary care physician interviews, survey responses, literature.

Prevention of leg cramps by using compression stockings or magnesium supplements in the 50-84 age group: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Leg cramps are painful sensations of tightening in the muscles of the legs that commonly appear during the night and are often associated with secondary insomnia. They are common especially in older age. There is no evidence that any method of prevention of nocturnal leg cramps is both safe and effective.

Animal Welfare Control-Inspection Findings and the Threshold for Requesting a Police Investigation.

An increasing proportion of animal welfare violations in Finland are related to companion animals. However, only a small number of these issues are investigated or prosecuted. The aims of this study were (i) to describe the inspection findings and the resulting actions of the official municipal veterinarians in the Finnish Capital Region and (ii) to identify the factors that predict their submissions of investigation requests to the police.

Evaluating the Impact of COVID-19 on the Adoption of Virtual Care in General Practice in 20 Countries (inSIGHT): Protocol and Rationale Study.

Background: In recent decades, virtual care has emerged as a promising option to support primary care delivery. However, despite the potential, adoption rates remained low. With the outbreak of COVID-19, it has suddenly been pushed to the forefront of care delivery.

Prognostic value of neonatal EEG following therapeutic hypothermia in survivors of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy.

Objective: Early prediction of neurological deficits following neonatal hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) may help to target support. Neonatal animal models suggest that recovery following hypoxia-ischemia depends upon cortical bursting. To test whether this holds in human neonates, we correlated the magnitude of cortical bursting during recovery (≥postnatal day 3) with neurodevelopmental outcomes.

STAR Duodecim eHealth Tool to Recognize Chronic Disease Risk Factors and Change Unhealthy Lifestyle Choices Among the Long-Term Unemployed: Protocol for a Mixed Methods Validation Study.

Background: Lifestyle choices and socioeconomic status have a significant impact on the expected onset of diseases, age of death, and risk factors concerning long-term illnesses and morbidity. STAR is an online health examination tool, which gives users a report that includes an evaluation of their life expectancy and an estimated risk for developing common long-term illnesses based on questions about health, characteristics, lifestyle, and quality of life.

Objective: The goals of this study are to (1) review the capacity of STAR to recognize morbidity risks in comparison to a traditional nurse-led health examination and patient-reported health challenges; (2) evaluate the user experience and usability of STAR; and (3) assess the potential impact of STAR on the health confidence and motivation of patients to make healthier lifestyle choices.

General practitioners' deprescribing decisions in older adults with polypharmacy: a case vignette study in 31 countries.

Background: General practitioners (GPs) should regularly review patients' medications and, if necessary, deprescribe, as inappropriate polypharmacy may harm patients' health. However, deprescribing can be challenging for physicians. This study investigates GPs' deprescribing decisions in 31 countries.