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Study on Primary Care Health Service Utilization in Hong Kong

This study has been completed.
Sponsor:
Collaborator:
Study in Health Services, Food and Health Bureau, Government of the Hong Kong SAR
Information provided by (Responsible Party):
Cindy L.K. LAM, The University of Hong Kong
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT01422031
First received: August 8, 2011
Last updated: August 22, 2011
Last verified: August 2011
History of Changes
  Purpose

The aim of this study was to find out the utilization rate and pattern of primary health care services, and the process and outcomes of primary care consultations of the general population in Hong Kong, and whether having a family doctor would make any difference.

The study objectives were to determine

  1. the rates and pattern of utilization of different primary health care services and self-care
  2. Patient self-reported outcomes (global rating on change in health, satisfaction and patient enablement) of primary care consultations;
  3. the process of care in consultations including drug and non-drug managements, investigations, preventive care and referrals;
  4. the effect of having a regular family doctor on service utilization rate and pattern, health promotion practice, and process and outcomes of primary care consultations.

Condition
Primary Care
Health Services Utilization
Family Practice

Study Type: Observational
Study Design: Observational Model: Cohort
Time Perspective: Prospective
Official Title: Utilization Pattern of Primary Health Care Services in Hong Kong - Does Having a Family Doctor Make Any Difference?

Further study details as provided by The University of Hong Kong:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • Primary care doctor choice group [ Time Frame: baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Monthly utilization rate [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Rates of non-drug managements [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:
  • Doctor shopping rate [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Self-medication rates during the last episode of illness [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Prescribing rate during last episode of illness [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Prevalence of preventive care [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Self-perceived health score [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • Patient satisfaction [ Time Frame: Baseline ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment: 3148
Study Start Date: September 2007
Study Completion Date: August 2008
Primary Completion Date: August 2008 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Groups/Cohorts
Regular Family Doctor (RFD)
People had a regular primary care doctor who is a family doctor
Regular not Family doctor (RnFD)
People had a regular primary care doctor who is not a family doctor
Not regular doctor (NRD)
People had no regular primary care doctor

Detailed Description:

Study Design: A Cross-sectional general population survey and a longitudinal study (12-weeks follow up)

Method: Two phases, corresponding to Summer and Winter, respectively, of cross-sectional telephone survey on the Hong Kong general population using a structured questionnaire to collect information on the choice primary care doctors, illness rates, primary care service utilization rates and self-reported process and outcomes of consultations. A longitudinal study for 12 weeks was carried out on a sub-sample of the cross-sectional study subjects to collect data to cross-validate cross-sectional data. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to determine whether there was any difference in service utilization rates, process and outcomes among people using different types of primary care doctors.

  Eligibility

Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   No
Sampling Method:   Non-Probability Sample
Study Population

5174 eligible households were contacted by telephone but 1532 refused to be interviewed and 494 did not complete the interview. 3148 (60.8%) subjects, with 1616 and 1532 in the first and second phases, respectively, completed the cross-sectional survey. 1131 people (480 by additional telephone sampling) were invited to the longitudinal study but only 708 eventually agreed to take part and 327 returned the diaries (all by completion). 319 subjects had complete cross-sectional and longitudinal data for the final analysis.

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Written consent to study

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Non-residential numbers
  • Inability to communicate in Cantonese, Putonghua or English
  • Refusal to telephone interview
  • No contact after 5 attempts
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01422031

Locations
China
Family Medicine Unit, Faculty of Medicine, HKU
Hong Kong, China
Sponsors and Collaborators
The University of Hong Kong
Study in Health Services, Food and Health Bureau, Government of the Hong Kong SAR
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Cindy L.K. Lam, MD Family Medicine Unit, Faculty of Medicine, HKU
  More Information

Additional Information:
Hong Kong Med J Vol 17 No 3 Supplement 3  This link exits the ClinicalTrials.gov site

No publications provided

Responsible Party: Cindy L.K. LAM, Head and Clinical Professor, The University of Hong Kong
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01422031     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: HKCTR-366
Study First Received: August 8, 2011
Last Updated: August 22, 2011
Health Authority: Hong Kong: Ethics Committee

Keywords provided by The University of Hong Kong:
Primary care
Family doctor
Consultation
 utilization
Non-drug managements
Patient enablement index

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on May 19, 2013