Improving personal continuity in general practice: a focus group study.

Background: Personal continuity is an important dimension of continuity of care in general practice and is associated with many benefits including a higher quality of GP care and lower mortality rate. Over time, changes in society and health care have challenged the provision of personal continuity. Older patients in particular experience more negative consequences from receiving discontinuous care.

Improving personal continuity in general practice: a focus group study.

Personal continuity is an important dimension of continuity of care in general practice and is associated with many benefits including a higher quality of GP care and lower mortality rate. Over time, changes in society and healthcare have challenged the provision of personal continuity. Especially older patients experience more negative consequences from receiving discontinuous care.

Understanding Older Adults' Experiences With a Digital Health Platform in General Practice: Qualitative Interview Study.

Background: In our aging population, primary care is under pressure to remain accessible to all. Effective use of digital health care could potentially lower general practitioners' (GPs) workload. Some general practices are already implementing a digital health platform as a primary method to contact their patients.

Potentially Inappropriate Medication in Older Persons With Dementia: Does a Migration Background Matter?

Objectives: Previous research in the general population shows more potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) among persons with a migration background compared with persons without a migration background. This study investigated the association between non-Western (nw) migration background (MB) and dementia-specific PIMs in older adults with dementia in the Netherlands.

Design: Cohort study using routinely recorded electronic health records and administrative data.

Optimising personal continuity for older patients in general practice: a cluster randomised stepped wedge pragmatic trial.

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness, feasibility and acceptability of a multicomponent intervention for improving personal continuity for older patients in general practice.

Design: A cluster randomised three-wedged, pragmatic trial during 18 months.

Setting: 32 general practices in the Netherlands.

Predicting unplanned admissions to hospital in older adults using routinely recorded general practice data: development and validation of a prediction model.

Background: Unplanned admissions to hospital represent a hazardous event for older people. Timely identification of high-risk individuals using a prediction tool may facilitate preventive interventions.

Aim: To develop and validate an easy-to-use prediction model for unplanned admissions to hospital in community-dwelling older adults using readily available data to allow rapid bedside assessment by GPs.

Prospective diagnostic accuracy study of history taking and physical examination for adults with vertigo in general practice: study protocol.

Introduction: Vertigo is a prevalent and burdensome symptom. More than 80% of patients with vertigo are primarily treated by their general practitioner (GP) and are never referred to a medical specialist. Despite this therapeutic responsibility, the GP's diagnostic toolkit has serious limitations.

Health economic evaluation of a nurse-assisted online eye screening in home healthcare to reduce avoidable vision impairment (iScreen): study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Background: Among older people undiagnosed and untreated vision impairment and blindness are common. The leading causes are uncorrected refractive errors and cataracts. Vision problems are associated with a lower quality of life, several health problems, and a higher chance of falling accidents and fractures.

Study protocol for a nationwide implementation of internet-based vestibular rehabilitation for patients with chronic vestibular symptoms (I-RECOVER).

Background: Vestibular rehabilitation is a safe and effective exercise-based treatment for patients with chronic vestibular symptoms. However, it is underused in general practice. Internet-based vestibular rehabilitation (Vertigo Training), which has proven to be effective as well, was developed to increase uptake.

[Insomnia: a persistent problem without optimal pharmacological approach].

Insomnia is a highly prevalent disorder in the Netherlands, with an estimated prevalence of 7-22%. The use of pharmacological interventions should be restricted, nevertheless, medications for insomnia are often prescribed. The use of off-label pharmacological interventions is increasing, although supporting evidence for these strategies is limited.

Personal Continuity and Appropriate Prescribing in Primary Care.

Purpose: Personal continuity between patient and physician is a core value of primary care. Although previous studies suggest that personal continuity is associated with fewer potentially inappropriate prescriptions, evidence on continuity and prescribing in primary care is scarce. We aimed to determine the association between personal continuity and potentially inappropriate prescriptions, which encompasses potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) and potential prescribing omissions (PPOs), by family physicians among older patients.

Online vestibular rehabilitation for chronic vestibular syndrome: 36-month follow-up of a randomised controlled trial in general practice.

Background: Vestibular rehabilitation (VR) is the preferred treatment for chronic vestibular symptoms such as dizziness and vertigo. An internet-based programme was developed to increase uptake of VR. The authors have previously reported that internet-based VR resulted in a clinically relevant decrease of vestibular symptoms for up to 6 months, compared with usual care.

Pharmacological interventions for prophylaxis of vestibular migraine.

Background: Vestibular migraine is a form of migraine where one of the main features is recurrent attacks of vertigo. These episodes are often associated with other features of migraine, including headache and sensitivity to light or sound. These unpredictable and severe attacks of vertigo can lead to a considerable reduction in quality of life.

Pharmacological interventions for acute attacks of vestibular migraine.

Background: Vestibular migraine is a form of migraine where one of the main features is recurrent attacks of vertigo. These episodes are often associated with other features of migraine, including headache and sensitivity to light or sound. The unpredictable and severe attacks of vertigo can lead to a considerable reduction in quality of life.

Non-pharmacological interventions for prophylaxis of vestibular migraine.

Background: Vestibular migraine is a form of migraine where one of the main features is recurrent attacks of vertigo. These episodes are often associated with other features of migraine, including headache and sensitivity to light or sound. These unpredictable and severe attacks of vertigo can lead to a considerable reduction in quality of life.

Predicting future falls in older people using natural language processing of general practitioners' clinical notes.

Background: Falls in older people are common and morbid. Prediction models can help identifying individuals at higher fall risk. Electronic health records (EHR) offer an opportunity to develop automated prediction tools that may help to identify fall-prone individuals and lower clinical workload.

Discussing depression in patients with visual impairment differs across countries: Validation of a prediction model in healthcare providers.

Purpose: Healthcare providers often experience difficulties in discussing depression with adults with visual impairment (VI), obstructing timely referral. The purpose of this study was to examine predictors of routine discussions of depression with adults with VI from the perspective of different healthcare providers from different countries.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey data from Welsh (N = 122), Australian (N = 94) and Dutch (N = 100) healthcare providers, that is eye care practitioners (ECPs) and low-vision care providers (LVCPs), were analysed.

Non-pharmacological interventions for persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD).

Background: Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) is a chronic balance disorder, which is characterised by subjective unsteadiness or dizziness that is worse on standing and with visual stimulation. The condition was only recently defined and therefore the prevalence is currently unknown. However, it is likely to include a considerable number of people with chronic balance problems.

Pharmacological interventions for persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD).

Background: Persistent postural-perceptual dizziness (PPPD) is a chronic balance disorder, which is characterised by subjective unsteadiness or dizziness that is worse on standing and with visual stimulation. The condition was only recently defined and therefore the prevalence is currently unknown. However, it is likely to include a considerable number of people with chronic balance problems.

Impact of the COVID-19 Outbreak-Delayed Referral of Colorectal and Lung Cancer in Primary Care: A National Retrospective Cohort Study.

The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak impacted health care. We investigated its impact on the time to referral and diagnosis for symptomatic cancer patients in The Netherlands. We performed a national retrospective cohort study utilizing primary care records linked to The Netherlands Cancer Registry.

Lifestyle and dietary interventions for Ménière's disease.

Background: Ménière's disease is a condition that causes recurrent episodes of vertigo, associated with hearing loss and tinnitus. Lifestyle or dietary modifications (including reducing the amount of salt or caffeine in the diet) are sometimes suggested to be of benefit for this condition. The underlying cause of Ménière's disease is unknown, as is the way in which these interventions may work.

Intratympanic corticosteroids for Ménière's disease.

Background: Ménière's disease is a condition that causes recurrent episodes of vertigo, associated with hearing loss and tinnitus. Corticosteroids are sometimes administered directly into the middle ear to treat this condition (through the tympanic membrane). The underlying cause of Ménière's disease is unknown, as is the way in which this treatment may work.