DOCUMENTS

papers

Morbidity and older persons’ perceptions of the quality of their primary care

Published: February 1, 2006
Category: Bibliography > Papers
Authors: Boult C, Boyd CM, Hsiao CJ, Schuster AB, Shadmi E, Sylvia M
Countries: United States
Language: null
Types: Population Health
Settings: Academic

J Am Geriatr Soc 54:330-334.

Department of Health Policy and Management, Bloomberg School of Public Health, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the association between community-dwelling older persons’ level of morbidity and their perceptions of the quality of their primary care.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.

SETTING: Urban primary care practice.

PARTICIPANTS: A sample of community-dwelling members of a capitated health plan aged 65 and older who were patients of four general internists in one urban practice (N = 120).

MEASUREMENTS: The Johns Hopkins Adjusted Clinical Groups case-mix system was used to designate a person’s aggregate morbidity level as moderate or high depending on the number and types of chronic conditions they had. Aspects of quality of primary care (physician-patient communication, interpersonal treatment, knowledge of patient, integration of care, and trust in physician) were assessed using the Primary Care Assessment Survey.

RESULTS: All participants were classified as having moderate (41%) or high morbidity (59%). Older adults with high morbidity assigned a lower rating to all aspects of quality of primary care (physician-patient communication (P = .001), interpersonal treatment (P = .002), knowledge of patient (P = .03), integration of care (P = .004), and trust in physician (P = .01)) than those with moderate morbidity. The differences in quality of primary care remained statistically significant after controlling for age, sex, race, and education level.

CONCLUSION: Older persons with multiple chronic conditions report inadequate quality of primary care and dissatisfaction with their care. Those with high morbidity levels experience poorer quality of primary care than those with moderate morbidity in all five aspects measured here.

PMID: 16460387

Morbidity Patterns,Age,Practice Patterns Comparison,Population Markers,United States,Cross-Sectional Studies,Gender,Health Knowledge,Attitudes,Practice,Health Status,Patient Satisfaction,Physician-Patient Relations,Surveys and Questionnaires,Urban Population

Please log in/register to access.

Log in/Register

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

© The Johns Hopkins University, The Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Johns Hopkins Health System.
All rights reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement

Back to top