Is Primary Care of Family Medicine better in Quality than that of Other Specialties?
Journal of the Korean Academy of Family Medicine
;
: 404-411, 2005.
Article
in Korean
| WPRIM
| ID: wpr-16573
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of primary care by patient-completed questionnaire, and to investigate whether the results of the assessment were different among the specialties of doctors (especially family medicine) and according to the existence of a family doctor.METHODS:
The questionnaire, which covers 7 components of primary care (accessibility, continuity, accountability, comprehensiveness, integration, sustained partnership with patients, whole person orientation), was administered to the applicants of health screening center of a university hospital, and factory workers in Cheonan, and residents living in Seoul. Statistic analysis was performed through the collected samples.RESULTS:
Total of 574 subjects were analyzed. The mean score (%) of each component of the total sample was as follows; accessibility 45.8, continuity 47.8, comprehensiveness 22.5, accountability 55.5, integration 41.8, sustained partnership with patients 48.9, and whole person orientation 31.8. The mean score (%) of all components were 42.0. Doctors were classified into internists, general surgeons, family physicians, general physicians, and others. Family physicians had the best score in accessibility (P=0.01). The mean score of all components of family physicians was better than that of internists and the other specialties (P<0.05). The respondents who had a family doctor was 129 (22.5%). The mean score of each component was higher than those without a family doctor (P<0.05).CONCLUSION:
Family physicians are providing high quality primary care compared to internists and other specialists. Patients who have a family doctor are provided with higher quality primary care than those who do not. Especially, comprehensiveness and whole person orientation need to be improved.
Full text:
Available
Index:
WPRIM (Western Pacific)
Main subject:
Physicians, Family
/
Primary Health Care
/
Social Responsibility
/
Specialization
/
Mass Screening
/
Surveys and Questionnaires
/
Seoul
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Screening study
Limits:
Humans
Country/Region as subject:
Asia
Language:
Korean
Journal:
Journal of the Korean Academy of Family Medicine
Year:
2005
Type:
Article
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