General practitioners in German metropolitan areas - distribution patterns and their relationship with area level measures of the socioeconomic status

Forgone and delayed care in Germany- inequalities and perceived health risk of unmet need

BACKGROUND

Subjective unmet need is an established indicator of unequal access to medical care and is often measured by delaying and forgoing medically necessary treatment. Research on delayed and forgone care among the general population in Germany including different reasons, social deprivation measures, and the perceived health risk of unmet need is sparse. This study aims to examine reasons, inequalities, and health-related consequences of unmet need in terms of delayed and forgone care.

METHODS

A cross-sectional online survey was carried out based on a randomly drawn sample of the German adult population in December 2022 (N = 2,201). Respondents were asked whether medical treatments were delayed or forgone in the past 12 months due to different reasons (waiting time, travel distance, financial costs). If unmet need was indicated, the respondents were subsequently asked about their perception of related health risks. Associations with individual social (sex, age, migration history, education, income) and regional factors (social deprivation) as well as insurance status were examined using multilevel logistic regressions analyses.

RESULTS

Among N = 1,955 respondents who indicated need for medical care, 30% reported at least one reason for forgone care (waiting time 23%, financial costs 11%, travel distance 9%). In terms of delayed care, highest rate was found for waiting time (34%). Multilevel analyses revealed significant associations of unmet need with female sex, younger age, lower education, lower income, and statutory health insurance. Associations varied depending on the reason for unmet need. Differences in regional social deprivation were particularly found for forgone care due to distance. Between half and nearly two-thirds of the participants reported worsening of symptoms in case of unmet need. Associations with social characteristics were inconsistent.

DISCUSSION

Unmet need is a prevailing issue in Germany and associated with perceived worsening of health, various indicators of social inequality, and health insurance. Reducing waiting times (e.g. through the further development of appointment service centres) and private co-payments as well as ensuring health care provision in deprived areas can contribute to a decrease of barrier-related unmet need and health risks. However, more in-depth studies are required to account for the complex nature of health care access.

Challenges and aspirations of neurosurgery residents in Germany: Insights from a questionnaire-based survey

OBJECTIVE

Neurosurgery residents in Germany face numerous challenges including receiving comprehensive surgical training with adequate learning opportunities, achieving balanced work life equilibrium, maintaining a positive work environment and navigating career prospects. The objectives of this study are to assess overall satisfaction with the training program, identify factors contributing to dissatisfaction, explore various dimensions of the training program, evaluate the psychological well-being of residents, and ascertain their preferences for future subspecialties.

METHODS

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted anonymously among neurosurgery residents from various training hospitals, nationwide. The survey utilized a quantitative questionnaire as data collection tool. The data collection took place from June 2021 to January 2023.

RESULTS

The survey encompassed 120 neurosurgery residents, with a gender distribution of 55 % male and 45 % female. The respondents were primarily from university hospitals (53 %), followed by community hospitals (38 %) and private hospitals (9 %). In terms of training program satisfaction, 37 % reported moderate satisfaction, 39 % indicated below-moderate satisfaction, and 28 % experienced above-moderate satisfaction. The predominant causes of dissatisfaction identified were insufficient surgical exposure (reported by 39 % of respondents), suboptimal educational content (38 %), and inadequate research opportunities (32 %). Additionally, 24 % of respondents highlighted psychological stress, and 36 % reported frequent experiences of burnout. A majority (63 %) indicated a workload of 60-80 h weekly. About half of the residents indicated a future specialization interest in neurosurgical oncology.

CONCLUSION

The results of the survey findings provide valuable insights into the challenges and aspirations of neurosurgery trainees in Germany. These results serve as a basis for improving the training system, enhancing the working environment, and guiding future planning in this field. To optimize the training of residents, it is important to address issues such as limited surgical and research opportunities and psychological well-being. The expressed interest in subspecializing offers guidance for shaping the training program's future direction.

What is the impact of introducing a non-clinical community health advice and navigation service on the demand for primary care in socially deprived areas? Evidence from an observational panel study with difference-in-differences design

OBJECTIVES

To examine the effect of introducing a non-clinical community health advice and navigation service on the demand for primary care in a socially deprived area.

DESIGN

Observational panel study with difference-in-differences design. We conducted fixed-effects negative binomial regressions to compare changes in the number of visits to general practitioners (GPs) in individuals who visited the health advice and navigation service and a matched control group of individuals who did not visit the service. In addition, we analysed the effects of visiting the service multiple times.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Our empirical setting is a socially deprived urban area in Germany with a multicultural population of about 110 000 people. Our analyses are based on patient data (N=1044) from a non-clinical community health advice and navigation service and from two statutory health insurers.

OUTCOME MEASURES

Patient demand for primary care measured as the number of visits to GPs before and after the first visit to the health advice and navigation service.

RESULTS

Visiting the service for the first time significantly decreased the number of GP visits compared with the control group (β=-0.113, p<0.1). Each additional visit to the service, however, significantly decreased the effect of the first visit (β=0.037, p<0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggest that non-clinical community health advice and navigation services can serve as a low-threshold first point of contact. As first point contact, such services might possibly reduce the burden of primary care physicians in socially deprived areas. At the same time, such services might function as a gateway to accessing the health system, reducing unmet care needs and stimulate demand. Ongoing counselling in the service can identify medical needs that require a physician visit. Our findings may be useful for policymakers and healthcare leaders seeking to reduce the demand on the primary care workforce and can stimulate further research in this area.

Distribution of Health Care Resources in Austria - Inequality Assessment of Different Health Care Resources at Different Points in Time

A major objective of health policy in many countries is to avoid inequality in the distribution of health care resources. Our goal is to provide initial insight into the inequality in the regional distribution of different health care resources per capita and the variation of the inequality over time in Austria to provide starting points for policy recommendations and international comparisons. We also aim to examine whether the type of inequality measure and need-adjustment has an impact on the results. The findings reveal that inequality in the distribution of GPs with contracts with social health insurance is comparably small, but we observe an increase in inequality from 2002 to 2014. In general, there is a clear trend toward private physicians, of whom private specialists preferably open their practices in densely populated areas. Despite considerable reductions in public hospital beds between 2002 and 2014, the distribution across regions remains almost constant. The use of different inequality measures and need-adjustment provides additional insights so that custom-made policies to reduce inequalities can be developed.

Predicting general practitioner utilisation at a small area level across Western Australia

Equitable delivery of GP services is a key goal in universal healthcare systems. In Australia, information to evaluate equitable delivery is limited, especially at finer geographic scales, leaving an information void that needs to be filled to inform, prioritise and target interventions. To fill this void, GP utilisation was estimated by combining responses on GP utilisation from a national survey differentiated by demographic and area-based socioeconomic and remoteness characteristics with similar characteristics represented geographically at a fine scale. These estimates were then compared to actual GP utilisation to evaluate their predictive reliability. Comparable estimates were found in the greater metropolitan area, with 76% of areas having estimated GP utilisation within ±10% of actual utilisation. Larger discrepancies were found as areas became remoter, with 84% of areas reporting estimated utilisation that was higher than actual utilisation. Comparing the geographic differences between estimated and actual utilisation allowed us to examine the reliability of our methodology. Given the identified limitations, a proxy for GP utilisation at a small area level can be created, a dataset that is not currently published at this geography. This approach has the potential to be applied Australia-wide, providing another valuable tool to evaluate the equitable delivery of primary health care nationally.

Workforce crisis in primary healthcare worldwide: Hungarian example in a longitudinal follow-up study

OBJECTIVE

The study was designed to explore the development of the general practitioner (GP) shortage in primary care and its characteristics in Hungary.

DESIGN

Longitudinal follow-up study over the decade 2007-2016.

METHODS

Analyses were performed on changes in number, age and sex of GPs by practice type (adult, paediatric and mixed), as well as on their geographical distribution and migration between areas characterised by deprivation index (DI) at municipality level. The association between deprivation and vacancy for GPs was studied by risk analysis. The number of population underserved was defined by DI quintile.

SETTING AND SUBJECTS

The study involved all general practices and GPs in the period examined.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

It is showed that the number of general practices with unfilled GP posts was increasing exponentially, mainly in the most deprived areas of the country.

RESULTS

A decrease in the number of GPs in all types of practices, especially in mixed (by 7.7%; p<0.001) and paediatric (by 6.5%; p<0.001) ones, was shown; the number of adult practices with unfilled GP posts doubled, while the number of paediatric practices with a vacancy for a paediatrician more than tripled. The average age of GPs was increased by 3.7 years (p<0.001) in adult, by 5.4 years (p<0.001) in paediatric and by 4.2 years (p<0.001) in mixed practices. In 2007, 52.27% (95% CI 51.03 to 53.5) of the GPs were women, and this rate increased to 56.19% (95% CI 54.93 to 57.44) by the end of the decade. An exponential association between relative vacancy rate and deprivation was confirmed. As a result of the migration of GPs, in the most deprived areas, the number of GPs decreased by 8.43% (95% CI 5.86 to 10.99).

CONCLUSIONS

The workforce crisis in Hungarian primary care is progressively deepening and resulting in more severe inequity in access to healthcare.