Health-related quality of life among frequent attenders in Swedish primary care: a cross-sectional observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

The aim was to examine health-related quality of life (HRQoL), patient characteristics and reasons for visits to general practitioners (GPs) by frequent attenders (FAs) and a comparison group (CG) in primary care.

Methods

Patients aged 18-64 years were eligible for the study. Medical records were scrutinised concerning reasons for visits. Questionnaires including short-form health survey (SF-36) were mailed to 331 FAs (≥5 visits at GPs during 2000) and 371 patients in a CG randomly selected from two healthcare centres and returned by 49% and 57%, respectively. FAs' SF-36 health profiles were compared both to CG and general Swedish population norms.

Results

FAs report lower HRQoL than CG and below the general Swedish population norms in all eight SF-36 domai

SUBMITTER: Strombom Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6678018 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature