General Practice Activity in Australia 2011-12

General Practice Series No. 31

Helena Britt, Graeme C. Miller, Joan Henderson, and Janice Charles

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Format: paperback
206 pages
ISBN: 9781743320181

Publication: 26 Nov 2012
Series: General Practice Series
Publisher: Sydney University Press

The book provides a summary of results from the 14th year of the BEACH program, a continuing national study of general practice activity in Australia.

From April 2011 to March 2012, 984 general practitioners recorded details about 98,400 GP-patient encounters, at which patients presented 153,218 reasons for encounter and 152,286 problems were managed. For an 'average' 100 problems managed, GPs recorded: 70 medications (including 57 prescribed, six supplied to the patient and seven advised for over-the-counter purchase); 11 procedures; 24 clinical treatments (advice and counselling); six referrals to specialists and three to allied health services; orders for 31 pathology tests and seven imaging tests.

A subsample study of more than 31,000 patients suggests prevalence of the following measured risk factors in the attending adult (18 years and over) patient population: obesity - 27 per cent; overweight - 35 per cent; daily smoking - 15 per cent; at-risk alcohol consumption - 25 per cent. One in four people in the attending population had at least two of these risk factors.

A companion publication, A Decade of Australian General Practice Activity 2001-02 to 2010-11 is also available.

Graeme Miller is an associate professor and Medical Director of the Family Medicine Research Centre at the University of Sydney.

Helena Britt is a professor of primary care research at the University of Sydney.

Janice Charles is a senior research officer at the Family Medicine Research Centre at the University of Sydney.

Joan Henderson is the Deputy Director of the Family Medicine Research Centre at the University of Sydney.

List of tables
List of figures
Summary

1. Introduction
2. Methods
3. The sample
4. The participating GPs
5. The encounters
6. The patients
7. Problems managed
8. Overview of management
9. Medications
10. Other treatments
11. Referrals and admissions
12. Investigations
13. Patient risk factors

14. SAND abstracts and research tools

References

Abbreviations

Symbols

Glossary

Appendix 1: example of a 2011–12 recording form

Appendix 2: GP characteristics questionnaire, 2011–12

Appendix 3: patient information card, 2011–12

Appendix 4: code groups from ICPC-2 and ICPC-2 PLUS