ArticleBMC health services research2023
Greater temporal regularity of primary care visits was associated with reduced hospitalizations and mortality, even after controlling for continuity of care.
Article in BMC health services research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Association between acupuncture exposure and mortality in people with disabilities diagnosed with ischemic heart disease: a nationwide retrospective cohort study in the Republic of Korea.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2026Article
- Why Do Parents Take Their Children to Informal Healthcare Providers? Insights from Bangladesh.The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene · 2026Article
- Article
- Teamwork Among Primary Care Staff to Achieve Regular Follow-Up of Chronic Patients.Annals of family medicine · 2025Article
- Diabetes-Related Microvascular Complications in Primary Health Care Settings in the West Bank, Palestine.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- The Wall of Evidence for Continuity of Care: How Many More Bricks Do We Need?Annals of family medicineArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPrevious studies have shown that more temporally regular primary care visits are associated with improved patient outcomes.
objectiveTo examine the association of temporal regularity (TR) of primary care with hospitalizations and mortality in patients with chronic illnesses. Also, to identify threshold values for TR for predicting outcomes.
designRetrospective cohort study.
participantsWe used data from the electronic health record of a health maintenance organization in Israel to study primary care visits of 70,095 patients age 40 + with one of three chronic conditions (diabetes mellitus, heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). MAIN MEASURES: We calculated TR for each patient during a two-year period (2016-2017), and divided patients into quintiles based on TR. Outcomes (hospitalization, death) were observed in 2018-2019. Covariates included the Bice-Boxerman continuity of care score, demographics, and comorbidities. We used multivariable logistic regression to examine TR's association with hospitalization and death, controlling for covariates. KEY
resultsCompared to patients receiving the most regular care, patients receiving less regular care had increased odds of hospitalization and mortality, with a dose-response curve observed across quintiles (p for linear trend < 0.001). For example, patients with the least regular care had an adjusted odds ratio of 1.40 for all-cause mortality, compared to patients with the most regular care. Analyses stratified by age, sex, ethnic group, area-level SES, and certain comorbid conditions did not show strong differential associations of TR across groups.
conclusionsWe found an association between more temporally regular care in antecedent years and reduced hospitalization and mortality of patients with chronic illness in subsequent years, after controlling for covariates. There was no clear threshold value for temporal regularity; rather, more regular primary care appeared to be better across the entire range of the variable.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.