Interventions to help frequent attenders in primary care
Citation: Haroun D, Smits F, van Etten-Jamaludin F, et al. The effects of interventions on quality of life, morbidity and consultation frequency in frequent attenders in primary care: A systematic review. European Journal of General Practice 2016; 22(2): 71-82
What is this? The COVID-19 pandemic is placing a strain on healthcare systems. Existing research into ways to reduce frequent visits to primary care by frequent attenders may provide information to help ease this burden and improve the frequent attenders’ quality of life.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for randomized trials of the effects of interventions intended to reduce the frequency of primary care visits on quality of life, morbidity and consultation frequency. They restricted their search to studies published between 1980 and 2015, but did not restrict by language of publication, and did the search in August 2015. They included 17 trials covering a variety of frequent attenders.
What was found: A patient-tailored approach moderately decreased consultation frequency by frequent attenders in primary care.
A depression management programme provided modest improvements in quality of life and depression-free days for frequent attenders in primary care.