| 1. |
- Hoffman, Robert D., et al.
(författare)
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Gender differences in self-care for common colds by primary care patients : a European multicenter survey on the prevalence and patterns of practices (the COCO study)
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Gender Studies. - : Taylor & Francis Group. - 0958-9236 .- 1465-3869. ; 30:7, s. 756-771
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Although generally harmless, the common cold disturbs the lives of billions yearly. It is frequently treated by self-care, yet little is known about the effect gender may have on self-care. Our study set out to discover whether self-care for common colds differs by gender. We also wanted to test the 'Man cold' belief: that men 'break down' when they have a cold and suffer more than women when they are sick. We distributed questionnaires asking for a selection of self-care practices in eight categories to 3,240 consecutive patients in 14 Eurasian countries at 27 primary care sites. Of 2,654 patients included, 99% reported engaging in self-care for common colds. Discomfort was reported more frequently by women (74.7% vs. 66.5%, p < 0.001). There were gender differences in several self-care categories. The mean use of self-care items was higher in women than in men (12.0 vs. 10.3, p < 0.001). Women reported a greater variety of self-care items than men. However, more men reported using alcohol (17.8% vs. 8.4%, p < 0.001). This cross-national study documented gender differences in self-care for common colds.
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| 2. |
- Jungo, Katharina Tabea, et al.
(författare)
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General practitioners' deprescribing decisions in older adults with polypharmacy : a case vignette study in 31 countries
- 2021
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Ingår i: BMC Geriatrics. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1471-2318 .- 1471-2318. ; 21:1, s. 1-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background General practitioners (GPs) should regularly review patients' medications and, if necessary, deprescribe, as inappropriate polypharmacy may harm patients' health. However, deprescribing can be challenging for physicians. This study investigates GPs' deprescribing decisions in 31 countries. Methods In this case vignette study, GPs were invited to participate in an online survey containing three clinical cases of oldest-old multimorbid patients with potentially inappropriate polypharmacy. Patients differed in terms of dependency in activities of daily living (ADL) and were presented with and without history of cardiovascular disease (CVD). For each case, we asked GPs if they would deprescribe in their usual practice. We calculated proportions of GPs who reported they would deprescribe and performed a multilevel logistic regression to examine the association between history of CVD and level of dependency on GPs' deprescribing decisions. Results Of 3,175 invited GPs, 54% responded (N = 1,706). The mean age was 50 years and 60% of respondents were female. Despite differences across GP characteristics, such as age (with older GPs being more likely to take deprescribing decisions), and across countries, overall more than 80% of GPs reported they would deprescribe the dosage of at least one medication in oldest-old patients (> 80 years) with polypharmacy irrespective of history of CVD. The odds of deprescribing was higher in patients with a higher level of dependency in ADL (OR =1.5, 95%CI 1.25 to 1.80) and absence of CVD (OR =3.04, 95%CI 2.58 to 3.57). Interpretation The majority of GPs in this study were willing to deprescribe one or more medications in oldest-old multimorbid patients with polypharmacy. Willingness was higher in patients with increased dependency in ADL and lower in patients with CVD.
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| 3. |
- Streit, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Burden of cardiovascular disease across 29 countries and GPs' decision to treat hypertension in oldest-old.
- 2018
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Ingår i: Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care. - : Taylor & Francis. - 0281-3432 .- 1502-7724. ; 36:1, s. 89-98
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- OBJECTIVES: We previously found large variations in general practitioner (GP) hypertension treatment probability in oldest-old (>80 years) between countries. We wanted to explore whether differences in country-specific cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden and life expectancy could explain the differences.DESIGN: This is a survey study using case-vignettes of oldest-old patients with different comorbidities and blood pressure levels. An ecological multilevel model analysis was performed.SETTING: GP respondents from European General Practice Research Network (EGPRN) countries, Brazil and New Zeeland.SUBJECTS: This study included 2543 GPs from 29 countries.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: GP treatment probability to start or not start antihypertensive treatment based on responses to case-vignettes; either low (<50% started treatment) or high (≥50% started treatment). CVD burden is defined as ratio of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to ischemic heart disease and/or stroke and total DALYs lost per country; life expectancy at age 60 and prevalence of oldest-old per country.RESULTS: Of 1947 GPs (76%) responding to all vignettes, 787 (40%) scored high treatment probability and 1160 (60%) scored low. GPs in high CVD burden countries had higher odds of treatment probability (OR 3.70; 95% confidence interval (CI) 3.00-4.57); in countries with low life expectancy at 60, CVD was associated with high treatment probability (OR 2.18, 95% CI 1.12-4.25); but not in countries with high life expectancy (OR 1.06, 95% CI 0.56-1.98).CONCLUSIONS: GPs' choice to treat/not treat hypertension in oldest-old was explained by differences in country-specific health characteristics. GPs in countries with high CVD burden and low life expectancy at age 60 were most likely to treat hypertension in oldest-old. Key Points • General practitioners (GPs) are in a clinical dilemma when deciding whether (or not) to treat hypertension in the oldest-old (>80 years of age). • In this study including 1947 GPs from 29 countries, we found that a high country-specific cardiovascular disease (CVD) burden (i.e. myocardial infarction and/or stroke) was associated with a higher GP treatment probability in patients aged >80 years. • However, the association was modified by country-specific life expectancy at age 60. While there was a positive association for GPs in countries with a low life expectancy at age 60, there was no association in countries with a high life expectancy at age 60. • These findings help explaining some of the large variation seen in the decision as to whether or not to treat hypertension in the oldest-old.
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| 4. |
- Streit, Sven, et al.
(författare)
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Variation in GP decisions on antihypertensive treatment in oldest-old and frail individuals across 29 countries.
- 2017
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Ingår i: BMC Geriatrics. - : BioMed Central. - 1471-2318 .- 1471-2318. ; 17:1, s. 1-7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: In oldest-old patients (>80), few trials showed efficacy of treating hypertension and they included mostly the healthiest elderly. The resulting lack of knowledge has led to inconsistent guidelines, mainly based on systolic blood pressure (SBP), cardiovascular disease (CVD) but not on frailty despite the high prevalence in oldest-old. This may lead to variation how General Practitioners (GPs) treat hypertension. Our aim was to investigate treatment variation of GPs in oldest-olds across countries and to identify the role of frailty in that decision.METHODS: Using a survey, we compared treatment decisions in cases of oldest-old varying in SBP, CVD, and frailty. GPs were asked if they would start antihypertensive treatment in each case. In 2016, we invited GPs in Europe, Brazil, Israel, and New Zealand. We compared the percentage of cases that would be treated per countries. A logistic mixed-effects model was used to derive odds ratio (OR) for frailty with 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for SBP, CVD, and GP characteristics (sex, location and prevalence of oldest-old per GP office, and years of experience). The mixed-effects model was used to account for the multiple assessments per GP.RESULTS: The 29 countries yielded 2543 participating GPs: 52% were female, 51% located in a city, 71% reported a high prevalence of oldest-old in their offices, 38% and had >20 years of experience. Across countries, considerable variation was found in the decision to start antihypertensive treatment in the oldest-old ranging from 34 to 88%. In 24/29 (83%) countries, frailty was associated with GPs' decision not to start treatment even after adjustment for SBP, CVD, and GP characteristics (OR 0.53, 95%CI 0.48-0.59; ORs per country 0.11-1.78).CONCLUSIONS: Across countries, we found considerable variation in starting antihypertensive medication in oldest-old. The frail oldest-old had an odds ratio of 0.53 of receiving antihypertensive treatment. Future hypertension trials should also include frail patients to acquire evidence on the efficacy of antihypertensive treatment in oldest-old patients with frailty, with the aim to get evidence-based data for clinical decision-making.
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| 5. |
- Thielmann, Anika, et al.
(författare)
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Self-Care for Common Colds by Primary Care Patients : A European Multicenter Survey on the Prevalence and Patterns of Practices - The COCO Study
- 2016
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Ingår i: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1741-427X .- 1741-4288. ; 2016
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background. Patients use self-care to relieve symptoms of common colds, yet little is known about the prevalence and patterns across Europe. Methods/Design. In a cross-sectional study 27 primary care practices from 14 countries distributed 120 questionnaires to consecutive patients (≥18 years, any reason for consultation). A 27-item questionnaire asked for patients' self-care for their last common cold. Results. 3,074 patients from 27 European sites participated. Their mean age was 46.7 years, and 62.5% were females. 99% of the participants used ≥1 self-care practice. In total, 527 different practices were reported; the age-standardized mean was 11.5 (±SD 6.0) per participant. The most frequent self-care categories were foodstuffs (95%), extras at home (81%), preparations for intestinal absorption (81%), and intranasal applications (53%). Patterns were similar across all sites, while the number of practices varied between and within countries. The most frequent single practices were water (43%), honey (42%), paracetamol (38%), oranges/orange juice (38%), and staying in bed (38%). Participants used 9 times more nonpharmaceutical items than pharmaceutical items. The majority (69%) combined self-care with and without proof of evidence, while ≤1% used only evidence-based items. Discussion. This first cross-national study on self-care for common colds showed a similar pattern across sites but quantitative differences.
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| 6. |
- van der Ploeg, Milly A., et al.
(författare)
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Patient Characteristics and General Practitioners' Advice to Stop Statins in Oldest-Old Patients : a Survey Study Across 30 Countries
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of general internal medicine. - : Springer. - 0884-8734 .- 1525-1497. ; 34:9, s. 1751-1757
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Statins are widely used to prevent cardiovascular disease (CVD). With advancing age, the risks of statins might outweigh the potential benefits. It is unclear which factors influence general practitioners' (GPs) advice to stop statins in oldest-old patients. Objective To investigate the influence of a history of CVD, statin-related side effects, frailty and short life expectancy, on GPs' advice to stop statins in oldest-old patients. Design We invited GPs to participate in this case-based survey. GPs were presented with 8 case vignettes describing patients > 80 years using a statin, and asked whether they would advise stopping statin treatment. Main Measures Cases varied in history of CVD, statin-related side effects and frailty, with and without shortened life expectancy (< 1 year) in the context of metastatic, non-curable cancer. Odds ratios adjusted for GP characteristics (ORadj) were calculated for GPs' advice to stop. Key Results Two thousand two hundred fifty GPs from 30 countries participated (median response rate 36%). Overall, GPs advised stopping statin treatment in 46% (95%CI 45-47) of the case vignettes; with shortened life expectancy, this proportion increased to 90% (95CI% 89-90). Advice to stop was more frequent in case vignettes without CVD compared to those with CVD (ORadj 13.8, 95%CI 12.6-15.1), with side effects compared to without ORadj 1.62 (95%CI 1.5-1.7) and with frailty (ORadj 4.1, 95%CI 3.8-4.4) compared to without. Shortened life expectancy increased advice to stop (ORadj 50.7, 95%CI 45.5-56.4) and was the strongest predictor for GP advice to stop, ranging across countries from 30% (95%CI 19-42) to 98% (95% CI 96-99). Conclusions The absence of CVD, the presence of statin-related side effects, and frailty were all independently associated with GPs' advice to stop statins in patients aged > 80 years. Overall, and within all countries, cancer-related short life expectancy was the strongest independent predictor of GPs' advice to stop statins.
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| 7. |
- Weltermann, Birgitta M, et al.
(författare)
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Self-Care Practices for Common Colds by Primary Care Patients: Study Protocol of a European Multicenter Survey-The COCO Study.
- 2015
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Ingår i: Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine. - : Hindawi Limited. - 1741-427X .- 1741-4288. ; 2015
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background. Self-care for common colds is frequent, yet little is known about the spectrum, regional differences, and potential risks of self-care practices in patients from various European regions. Methods/Design. We describe the study protocol for a cross-sectional survey in 27 primary care centers from 14 European countries. At all sites, 120 consecutive adult patients, who visit their general practitioner for any reason, filled in a self-administered 27-item questionnaire. This addresses patients' self-care practices for common colds. Separately, the subjective level of discomfort when having a common cold, knowing about the diseases' self-limited nature, and medical and sociodemographic data are requested. Additionally, physicians are surveyed on their use of and recommendations for self-care practices. We are interested in investigating which self-care practices for common colds are used, whether the number of self-care practices used is influenced by knowledge about the self-limited nature of the disease, and the subjective level of discomfort when having a cold and to identify potential adverse interactions with chronic physician-prescribed medications. Further factors that will be considered are, for example, demographic characteristics, chronic conditions, and sources of information for self-care practices. All descriptive and analytical statistics will be performed on the pooled dataset and stratified by country and site. Discussion. To our knowledge, COCO is the first European survey on the use of self-care practices for common colds. The study will provide new insight into patients' and general practitioners' self-care measures for common colds across Europe.
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