Doctor and practice characteristics associated with differences in patient evaluations of general practice
2007

Factors Affecting Patient Evaluations of General Practice

Sample size: 365 publication Evidence: high

Author Information

Author(s): Heje Hanne N, Vedsted Peter, Sokolowski Ineta, Olesen Frede

Primary Institution: The University of Aarhus

Hypothesis

To determine the associations between patient evaluations of GPs and GP/practice characteristics.

Conclusion

GP characteristics are mainly associated with patients' experience of interpersonal aspects of care, while practice characteristics are associated with evaluation of accessibility.

Supporting Evidence

  • GP age negatively affects patient evaluations, except for accessibility.
  • Single-handed practices receive the most positive evaluations.
  • Longer working hours correlate with better evaluations in most dimensions.

Takeaway

This study found that younger doctors are rated better by patients, and that how a practice is organized affects how accessible patients feel they are.

Methodology

A patient evaluation survey was conducted using the EUROPEP questionnaire, collecting 28,260 evaluations from 365 GPs.

Potential Biases

Patients who frequently attend GPs may be overrepresented in the evaluations.

Limitations

The study may not represent all GPs as only those who volunteered participated, potentially introducing selection bias.

Participant Demographics

{"gender":{"female":136,"male":229},"age":{"30-39":21,"40-49":125,"50-59":195,"60+":24}}

Statistical Information

Confidence Interval

95% CI

Statistical Significance

p<0.05

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1186/1472-6963-7-46

Want to read the original?

Access the complete publication on the publisher's website

View Original Publication