Factors influencing home visits in Slovenian general practice.

Background: There is great variability in home visiting rates in Europe. The European General Practice Research Workshop (EGPRW) has conducted a pilot quantitative international study on home visits and developed a questionnaire, which has not yet been tested on a national level. In Slovenia, home visiting is decreasing, but the factors influencing home visiting by GPs in the country have not yet been examined.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to test the feasibility of the questionnaire on home visiting developed by EGPRW and to study home visiting in Slovenia.

Methods: A random representative sample of 165 Slovenian GPs were given a questionnaire, developed on the basis of former EGPRW projects. Each of the respondents provided data on 10 consecutive home visits made during office hours, data on his/her practice and number of consultations during the registration period. Multivariate modelling of home visits per working week as the dependent variable was performed.

Results: A 71% response rate was achieved, and the data from 1151 requests for home visits and 1015 completed home visits were analysed. The average number of home visits per working week was 2.5, with wide variation among the respondents (0-10, SD 1.89). Older GPs, trainees, GPs from rural areas and those with a higher proportion of elderly patients carried out more home visits. The selected logistic regression model fits the data well according to established criteria.

Conclusion: It is possible to use the questionnaire developed by EGPRW on a national scale and to obtain representative valid national data. The home visiting rate in Slovenia is low compared with rates in other countries. Rural location of practice, GP's age, trainee status and the number of older patients on the list are the most important predictors of the home visiting rate.