Predictors for the white coat effect in general practice patients with suspected and treated hypertension.

Background: Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was introduced more than 40 years ago and is accepted as a clinically useful method to evaluate the white coat effect in patients with suspected and established hypertension.

Aim: To study the differences between blood pressure readings taken in the physician's office in the primary healthcare setting, and ambulatory readings, and to find possible predictors.

Design Of Study: Prospective study.

[Local groups as a tool for quality assurance of community health services].

Background: The aim of this study was to assess the use of local interprofessional or audit groups as a tool of quality enhancement.

Material And Methods: Fifty-six doctors, physiotherapists and nurses attended nine local interprofessional groups. The aim was to improve the quality of each professional's practice and to improve communication between the professions.

[Which medical quality concepts should be used in Norway? Some significant quality concepts with definitions, synonyms and analogues English terms].

The terminology for quality in medical practice is over-complex, confusing and often applied indiscriminately. Such terms are meant to contribute to the understanding of medical performance and to be used as tools for its improvement. In order to be able to understand each other and to perform quality assessment a set of comprehensible terms and concise definitions of those terms is needed.

[Significant medical quality concepts in a clinical context].

For centuries, doctors have been working continuously on improving clinical practice, but there has not been the same focus on improving the organization of health care. Many doctors still believe that quality improvement only applies to medical practice. This is no longer so.

[Local meeting series--a model for continuing education of the general practice staff].

During the period January 1987 to June 1990 28 educational afternoon meetings were held for the office staff and nurses in general practice in Bodø, as well as for the nurses in the Bodø emergency clinic/service. Office staff and nurses in the occupational health service were also invited, bringing the number up to 42. On average 40.

[Uplifting health education].

Health education does not always lead to a change in behavior. This may be because traditional health education often focuses on disease instead of on positive values. Therefore, the new term refreshment is now being used to describe health-promoting activities.

[Reference groups as a form of training in general practice].

In 1985 the first "reference groups" were established within the Norwegian College of General Practitioners. Today there are 20 such groups, with a total of 117 members. The reports of these groups have been studied in order to obtain a picture of how they are organized, how and how often they meet, their aims, and what they produce.