Clinical trial NCT04736992: HKCFP-HKU Primary Care Morbidity Survey in Hong Kong
Official title: HKCFP-HKU Primary Care Morbidity Survey in Hong Kong
Study type: OBSERVATIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Conditions: Primary Health Care
Lead sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-02-03
Enrollment: 49
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Observational model: COHORT
Time perspective: PROSPECTIVE
Sampling method: NON_PROBABILITY_SAMPLE
Study population: Primary care doctors in Hong Kong who are working in the public sector (GOPC), Department of Health Clinic, private solo practices, university health services, non-profit organizations and private hospital family medicine clinics

Brief summary: Background:

Information about the health problems of patients presenting in primary care is crucial to understanding the health of the general community for the planning and allocation of health care resources. Practice-based morbidity studies conducted in primary care settings have proven to be helpful in documentation of disease prevalence and for service planning. With the change in morbidity pattern and the aging population, our study will help to inform primary health care policy and guide work force and service planning.

Method:

This is a prospective practice-based study of health problems presenting in primary care. Doctors who agree to participate in the study will record the health problem and type of management performed in consecutive patient encounters for one of the designated weeks during each season over the course of one year.

Analysis:

Data collected will be analysed by descriptive statistics, comparison with data from previous morbidity study, and by non-linear mixed effects for factors associated with morbidity and management patterns in primary care.

Results:

Findings will will 1) provide evidence to support the allocation of resources to continue and to expand primary care initiatives that support the provision of quality chronic disease care in private sector, 2) enable continued surveillance of the morbidity trends in Hong Kong by providing data for comparison with past and future studies, and 3) inform the content of educational curricula for medical and health care students and practitioners to prepare them to better meet the needs of the community.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Consented primary care doctors in Hong Kong who are working in:
* the public sector (GOPC), or
* Department of Health Clinic, or
* private solo or group practices, or
* university health services, or
* non-profit organizations, or
* private hospital family medicine clinics

Exclusion Criteria:

* Doctors who do not consent
* Doctors who are not working as primary care doctors

Primary outcomes:
measure: Prevalence of health problems and diseases presenting in primary care
timeFrame: immediately after completion of data collection, up to 6 months
measure: Rates of management activities including referral, investigation, prescription and preventive care intervention by primary care doctors
timeFrame: immediately after completion of data collection, up to 6 months
measure: Distribution of health problems and diseases presenting in the public compared with the private primary care setting
timeFrame: immediately after completion of data collection, up to 6 months
measure: Factors which affect the proportion and distribution of health problems in the public sector compared with the private sector
timeFrame: immediately after completion of data collection, up to 6 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Prescription rates of specific classes of drugs including benzodiazepines, antidepressants, NSAIDs, and antibiotics
timeFrame: immediately after completion of data collection, up to 6 months
measure: Seasonal variation in primary care morbidity pattern
timeFrame: immediately after completion of data collection, up to 6 months
measure: Relationship between patient's presenting problem and doctor's diagnosis
timeFrame: immediately after completion of data collection, up to 6 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Hong Kong
country: Hong Kong
facility: Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, University of Hong Kong
Study officials:
affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, University of Hong Kong
name: Julie Y Chen, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, University of Hong Kong
name: Cindy LK Lam, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Chen JY, Chao D, Wong SY, Tse TYE, Wan EYF, Tsang JPY, Leung MKW, Ko W, Li YC, Chen C, Luk W, Dao MC, Wong M, Leung WM, Lam CLK. Morbidity Patterns in Primary Care in Hong Kong: Protocol for a Practice-Based Morbidity Survey. JMIR Res Protoc. 2022 Jun 22;11(6):e37334. doi: 10.2196/37334.