Background:\u00a0<\/strong> Continuity of care is important for patients with chronic illness in\u00a0need of coordinated healthcare services from multiple providers. Little\u00a0is known about how patients with chronic fatigue syndrome\/myalgic\u00a0encephalomyelitis (CFS\/ME) experience continuity of GP care.<\/p>\n This study explores how women with CFS\/ME experience GP care across the\u00a0three dimensions of continuity: informational, management, and\u00a0relational continuity.<\/p>\n Methods:<\/strong>\u00a0 This cross-sectional study uses questionnaire data collected from\u00a0members of The Norwegian ME Association. Descriptive statistics and\u00a0logistic regressions were used to estimate experiences of continuity,\u00a0and associations with age, education, self-rated degree of CFS\/ME,\u00a0duration of the GP relation (GP duration), and number of GP visits for Results<\/strong>:\u00a0Almost two-thirds of participants reported positive experiences across\u00a0all three dimensions of GP continuity of care; 64.4% for informational,\u00a064.1% for management, and 77.2% for relational continuity. Lower\u00a0educational attainment was associated with more negative experiences of\u00a0informational continuity (primary school only compared to university\u00a0educated: odds ratio [OR] 0.12, confidence interval [CI] 0.03-0.49,\u00a0p\u2009=\u20090.003).<\/p>\n Compared to participants aged 40-59 years, those aged 60+\u00a0years were significantly less likely to have experienced poor (negative)\u00a0management continuity (OR 0.25, CI 0.09-0.76, p\u2009=\u20090.014). A GP\u00a0relationship of three or more years was associated with positive Compared to those with moderate CFS\/ME, those who graded their CFS\/ME as\u00a0severe or very severe were significantly more likely to have negative\u00a0experiences of relational continuity (OR 0.38, CI 0.14-0.99, p\u2009=\u20090.047).<\/p>\n Conclusions<\/strong>:\u00a0 A large proportion of participants experienced all three aspects of Experiences of general practitioner continuity among women with chronic\u00a0fatigue syndrome\/myalgic encephalomyelitis: a cross-sectional study<\/a>, by\u00a0Anne Helen Hansen, Olaug S. Lian in BMC Health Services Research Vol 16, #1, p 650,\u00a0Published: 14 November 2016<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Research abstract: Background:\u00a0 Continuity of care is important for patients with chronic illness in\u00a0need of coordinated healthcare services from multiple providers. Little\u00a0is known about how patients with chronic fatigue syndrome\/myalgic\u00a0encephalomyelitis (CFS\/ME) experience continuity of GP care. This study explores how … Continue reading
\nCFS\/ME-related issues during the previous year (GP frequency).<\/p>\n
\nexperiences of relational continuity (OR 2.32, CI 1.09-4.95, p\u2009=\u20090.030).<\/p>\n
\ncontinuity of GP care (especially the relational dimension) positively.\u00a0Informational and management continuity scores were moderately lower.\u00a0Our results suggest greater emphasis on information giving, feedback,\u00a0and better coordination of care to be good strategies for practice\u00a0improvement for this patient group.<\/p>\n