Improvements in quality of clinical care in English general practice 1998-2003: longitudinal observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To measure changes in quality of care for three major chronic diseases (coronary heart disease, asthma, and type 2 diabetes) between 1998 and 2003.

Design

Longitudinal cohort study.

Setting

42 general practices in six geographical areas of England (Avon, Bury/Rochdale, Enfield, Oldham, Somerset, South Essex).

Participants

Medical record data for 2300 patients with diabetes, asthma, or coronary heart disease in 1998, and 1495 patients in 2003.

Main outcome measure

Quality of care assessed against predefined evidence based review criteria.

Results

Between 1998 and 2003, quality of care improved markedly in terms of maximum possible scores on the review criteria, from 60.5% to 78.1% for coronary heart disease (change = 17.6, 95% confidence

SUBMITTER: Campbell SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1283276 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature