Job satisfaction and stressors for working in out-of-hours care - a pilot study with general practitioners in a rural area of Germany

BACKGROUND

Challenging work environment, high workload, and increasing physician shortages characterize current rural general practice in Germany and in most European Countries. These factors extend into Out-Of-Hours Care (OOHC). However, little research about potential stressors for general practitioners (GPs) in OOHC settings is available. This pilot study aimed to evaluate workload, different elements of job satisfaction and stressors for GPs in OOHC and to analyze whether these aspects are associated with overall job satisfaction.

METHODS

Cross-sectional survey with a sample of 320 GPs who are working in OOHC was used to measure workload in OOHC, job satisfaction (using the Warr-Cook-Wall scale) and stressors with the effort-reward imbalance questionnaire. In order to assess associations between workload, job satisfaction and stressors at work we performed descriptive analyses as well as multivariable regression analyses.

RESULTS

The response rate was 40.9%. Over 80% agreed that OOHC was perceived as a stressor and 79% agreed that less OOHC improved job satisfaction. Only 42% of our sample were satisfied with their overall job satisfaction. The regression analysis showed that the modification of current OOHC organization was significantly associated with overall job satisfaction.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results suggest that OOHC in the current form is a relevant stressor in daily work of rural GPs in Germany and one of the reasons for a decreasing overall job satisfaction. Strategic changes such as the implementation of structural reforms e.g. reducing frequency of OOHC duties for each GP and improving continuing professional development options related to OOHC are needed to address current workload challenges experienced by GPs providing OOHC in Germany.

Prävalenz, lokale Komplikationen und Risikofaktoren der Beinvarikose in deutschen Hausarztpraxen

Einleitung: Angaben zur Prävalenz von Vari-zen der unteren Extremitäten variieren in epidemiologischen Studien als Folge unterschiedlicher Bewertungs- und Selektionskriterien stark. Ziel der vorliegenden Untersuchung war es, die Prävalenz des Krampfaderleidens, ihre Risikofaktoren und die Häufigkeit lokaler Komplikationen im Patienten-gut deutscher Hausarztpraxen zu untersuchen.

Patienten und Methoden: Die elektronischen Patientenakten von 87 548 Patienten aus 32 Hausarztpraxen der CONTENT Datenbank der Heidelberger Universitätsklinik wurden über einen Zeitraum von drei Jahren (1.7.2008– 30.6.2011) ausgewertet. Anhand der ICD-10 codes I83.0–I83.9 wurden aus der Datenbank 2 721 Patienten mit der Diagnose Varizen der unteren Extremitäten identifiziert. Ulzerationen und lokale Entzündungen wurden mit den ICD-10 codes I83.0, I83.1 und I83.2 ermittelt. Die Analyse der Risikofaktoren erfolgte durch binäre multivariable Regression.

Ergebnisse: Die Prävalenz der Varikose betrug durchschnittlich 3,1 % (Männer 0,86 %, Frau-en 2,25 %) und korrelierte mit dem Lebensalter. Bei etwa 10 % der Patienten mit Varikose waren Hautulzerationen oder Varikophlebitiden bzw. -thrombosen dokumentiert. Wichtigste Risikofaktoren waren hohes Lebensalter (OR 1,02 [95%CI 1,016–1,022]; p<0,001), weibliches Geschlecht (OR 1,76 [95%CI 1,60–1,92]; p<0,001) und kardiovaskuläre Erkrankungen (OR 2,02 [95%CI 1,84–2,11]; p<0,001).

Schlussfolgerungen: Krampfadern wurden vom Hausarzt bei 3,1% seiner Patienten in der Krankenakte kodiert und somit als medizinisches Problem wahrgenommen. Der Vergleich mit Daten anderer Studien auf der primären Versorgungsebene deutet auf eine „underestimation” der wahren Prävalenz. Lokale Komplikationen wie Varikophlebitis/-thrombose und Ulcus cruris traten bei etwa 10 % der Patienten auf und waren mit höherem Lebensalter und risikobehafteten chronischen Erkrankungen assoziiert.

[Characteristics of Health-Care Provision for Patients in Out-of-Hours Care and Regular Care]

BACKGROUND

Little is known of the primary care characteristics in out of hours care centres (OOHC) as compared to regular care in Germany. Obviously the provision of patients in OOHC exhibits special characteristics concerning supply requirements, occupation and physician services, that require a first approximation.

METHODS

The data retrieval is managed within the CONTENT (CONTinous morbidity registration Epidemiologic NeTwork) research network. The used software allows for classifying reasons for encounter (RFE), health-problems (diagnoses) and processes of care (prescriptions, referrals, hospitalisations) with the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC). Furthermore the software allows for pseudonymised data export. One OOHC Centre in South Hessen is part of the network. Therefore, this allows the comparison of this OOHC centre with the regular care of the included 5 physicians in 4 practices of the same region.

RESULTS

A 3-year period (01 April 2010-31 March 2013) with 192,827 patient contacts of 13,394 patients (58.1% female) in regular care and 14,354 patient contacts with 9,208 patients (64.1% female) in OOHC was described. Medium age of the patients of the regular provision was 59.6 vs. 45.7 years in the OOHC centre based on the contacts (p<0.0001). The most frequent RFE in the OOHC centre were fever and pain predominantly caused by acute infections, injuries or acute pain of the musculoskeletal system. In regular care there could be documented predominantly chronic health issues and vaccinations. The prevalent prescriptions in OOHC were therefore antibiotics and analgesics in regular care blood pressure medication and antidiabetic drugs. The rate of referrals was obviously lower than in regular care (7.1 vs. 22.7; p<0.0001), whereas the rate of hospitalisations was obviously higher in OOHC than in regular care (5.6 vs. 1.1; p<0.0001).

CONCLUSION

With the help of the data, requirements, occupation, resulting diagnoses and care processes in regular and out of hours care can be compared and described in detail. We could document major differences between the provision in OOHC and regular care. The results encourage initiating further studies to ensure the supply of primary care in OOHC.

[Out-of-hours primary care in Germany: general practitioners' views on the current situation]

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to explore views, experiences und perspectives of German GPs related to current out-of-hours service provision covering both urban and rural settings.

METHODS

In the context of the international project EurOOHnet (European Research Network for Out-of-Hours Primary Health Care) the German members (of EurOOHnet) developed a questionnaire about organisational structures, infrastructure requirements and the procedures of information flow between regular care and out-of-hours care in 2011. This questionnaire was adopted in every participating country. A comprehensive postal questionnaire was sent to 410 feneral practice cooperatives in Germany. Qualitative content analysis and an inductive reasoning process, supported by the use of Atlas.ti, were used to identify key themes from responses to open-ended questions in the survey. Results were grouped into 3 overarching categories and each of these were grouped into 3 sub-categories.

RESULTS

The questionnaire response rate was 44% (181/410). The analysis identified organisational issues (e. g., financing) and infrastructure barriers (e. g., lack of motivated GPs for out-of-hours care) as key themes. Significantly, different priorities between rural and urban GPs were identified. In particular, rural GPs highlighted shortages of GPs and distance between the GP practice and patients' residence as concerning factors impacting on out-of-hours care.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on reported views from survey respondents, urban and rural primary care service needs vary significantly and, therefore, different solutions are needed to improve out-of-hours primary care and optimise service quality.

[Patient care in an out-of-hours care practice - a descriptive study of the CONTENT project]

BACKGROUND

Little published research is available about the content of out of hours care (OOHC) in Germany. CONTENT is a project of the University Hospital Heidelberg to build up a morbidity registry for ambulatory health care. One of the participating practices of the network is a rural OOHC centre. The study reports exemplarily on the work of this practice.

METHODS

The design of the study is cross-sectional. One of the 2 available CONTENT practice-softwares was used for data retrieval. The softwares allow for classifying reasons for encounter (RFE), health problems (diagnoses) and processes of care with the International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2). Furthermore the softwares allow for pseudonymised data export.

RESULTS

A 3-year period with 15 886 patient contacts of 9 542 patients (65.9% female) is described. Close to 8% of the population in the catchment area visited the practice at least once in a year. Medium age of the patients was 42 years (range 0-104). The groups of the 25-44-year-old and the 45-64-year-old patients formed together 43% of all contacts. The most frequent RFE were: fever (5.8%), sore throat (4.8%), cough (4.8%), earache (3.9%) and insect bites (3.6%). Frequencies of these RFEs differed considerably between the age groups. With the help of the data, resulting diagnoses and care processes can be described in detail.

CONCLUSION

This study describes, for the first time in Germany, the work of an OOHC practice. Data capture to accomplish this was feasible within existing practice software and without much extra work. If more OOHC practices would participate in the CONTENT project a more representative picture of OOHC in Germany could be established.

Eligibility of patients with peripheral arterial disease for participation in a community-based walking exercise program: a single-centre experience

AIM

Eligibility of patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) for exercise therapy is the most important requirement for predicting their training group adherence.

METHODS

In this prospective, exploratory study over a period of 1 year, a total of 462 PAD patients of an angiological outpatient routine care setting were consecutively recruited to the study. As non-eligibility criteria for exercise therapy were defined: resting pain or gangrene (Fontaine stage III and IV PAD), the inability to complete treadmill exercise, or premature treadmill discontinuation due to non-vascular walking pain. Also, PAD patients without subjective walking limitation (Fontaine stage I PAD) were assessed as unwilling, i.e. non-eligible for exercise training adherence. Criterion for patients eligibility was the occurrence of intermittent claudication on treadmill test (Fontaine stage II PAD).

RESULTS

A total of 346 patients (age median 71 years, males 58.5%) were candidates for conservative therapy. Of them, 166 subjects (48%) were assessed as eligible for participation in walking exercise program. 180 of the patients (52%) were deemed as non-eligible to perform walking exercise therapy. 115 patients (33%) were physically limited by critical limb ischemia (Fontaine stage III and IV PAD), severe comorbid cardiovascular disease or orthopaedic disorder. In 65 PAD patients (19%) the subjective walking capacity was not restricted. Social, logistical or other factors were found in 27 patients (8%) to be barriers for exercise training commencement.

CONCLUSION

In half of the PAD patients whose attendance in a community-based walking exercise program would be a therapeutically reasonable activity, a range of vascular and non-vascular factors are obstacles for participation. Further research is needed to investigate what measures might enhance the proportion of exercise therapy participants.

Low attendance of patients with intermittent claudication in a German community-based walking exercise program

AIM

Exercise therapy is an efficacious treatment for patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The study aimed to determine the initiation and adherence of PAD patients with intermittent claudication in a supervised community-based walking exercise program.

METHODS

Over a period of one year, PAD patients with Fontaine stage II attending an angiological outpatient setting were consecutively recruited to the study. Willingness, commencement and adherence of patients in the training program were recorded.

RESULTS

Of 462 patients with intermittent claudication, only 166 (36%) subjects fulfilled the requirements for participation in physical exercise training. Of these eligible patients, 110 (66%) persons accepted the invitation to attend exercise therapy. However, despite the commitment, 58 (35%) subjects failed to initiate attendance in the training program. Fifty-two (24%) patients did start the program but 16 (8%) patients did not complete more than three initial training sessions. Over a three-month period, regular attendance was registered for 36 (16%) patients.

CONCLUSION

Although physical exercise improves symptoms and mobility of patients with intermittent claudication, only about one-third of them is commencing an exercise program. Through lacking initiation and discontinuation, only a small percentage of claudicants permanently engages in a walking exercise program.

[Health insurance discount contracts: problems and risks for the general practitioner in the medical care of patients with chronic illness]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

The German federal Health Insurance law to strengthen competition between the pharmaceutical companies commits pharmacies to hand out drugs from discount contract drug suppliers of a patient's health insurance company. Thus patients are confronted with constantly changing drug packets. This study aimed at exploring whether patients have been properly informed about the new discount contracts and if they have experienced changes and problems in their long- term medications.

METHODS

Between May and June 2008 male and female patients older than 50 years who had a statutory health insurance and had been diagnosed with coronary heart disease for at least one year answered a standardized questionnaire filled in by doctors' assistants or general practitioners in the doctors' network "Weschnitztal".

RESULTS

Of the 188 patients participated in this study 63,8% were informed about health insurance discount contracts. 31,3% of the patients reported that a positive effect due to the discount contracts was that they were discharged from paying the drug prescription fee, 22,2% mentioned that cost saving for the health insurance could also be positive. 120 patients (63,8%) knew that the names of their long-term drugs could change.101 of the questioned patients (53,7%) identified a change in their long-term drugs, 51,5% felt insecure about the permanent changes. 21,7% experienced adverse e effects due to the new drugs. 19% of the patients had serious problems regarding medication intake.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrates that the information which patients have on the new health insurance law is not adequate enough. Many of them felt insecure because of the changes of long-term medications. One fifth of the patients reported errors in their drug intake or their confusion about their drugs. There is a high risk that these circumstances may trigger further diseases or complications. The cost savings as intended by the health insurance companies may therefore not be achieved by discount contracts.