Importance of continuity of care from a patient perspective – a cross-sectional study in Swedish health care

Figures & data

Table 1. Demographic data.

Variable	Number = n	%
Gender	n = 403
Male	161	40
Female	242	60
Age groups, years	n = 404
18–24	14	3
25–34	22	5
35–44	41	10
45–54	59	15
55–64	55	14
65–74	92	23
75–84	102	25
≥85	19	5
Age geriatrics, years	n = 404
<65	191	47
≥65	213	53
Other diseases	n = 385
No other diseases	119	31
At least one chronical disease	266	69
Self-assessed health status	n = 400
Good	266	66
Neither good or bad	115	29
Bad	19	5
Cause for visit at GP	n = 401
Acute problem	43	11
Non-acute	358	89

GP: general practice.

Table 2. Prevalence of patients considering having an RGP and logistic regression results for the variable having an RGP (dependent variable), and gender and age (independent variables).

Characteristics	Prevalence	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	Significance
RGP	n = 399
Yes, n (%)	277 (69)	N/A
No, n (%)	122 (31)	N/A
RGP, gender	n = 398
Women, yes/no	170/69 (71/29)	1.571; 95% CI (0.985–2.597)	p = .58
Men, yes/no	106/53 (67/33)
RGP, age	n = 399
Age <65, yes/no	103/87 (54/46)		p < .0001
Age ≥65, yes/no	174/35 (83/17)	3.552; 95% CI (1.899–6.643)

CI: confidence interval; N/A: non-applicable; OR: odds ratio; RGP: regular general practitioner.

Table 3. Prevalence of patients considering it important having an RGP and logistic regression results for the variable importance of having an RGP (dependent variable), and gender and age (independent variables).

Characteristics	Prevalence	Adjusted OR (95% CI)	Significance
Importance of RGP	n = 399
Yes, n (%)	342 (86)	N/A
No, n (%)	13 (3)	N/A
Neutral, n (%)	44 (11)	N/A
Importance of RGP, gender	n = 398
Women yes, n (%)	210 (87)	1.620; 95% CI (0.901–2.911)	p = .107
Men yes, n (%)	131 (83)
Importance of RGP, age	n = 399
<65 yes, n (%)	149 (78)		p < .0001
≥65 yes, n (%)	193 (92)	3.552; 95% CI (1.899–6.643)

CI: confidence interval; OR: odds ratio; RGP: regular general practitioner.

The question regarding importance of RGP was asked as a Likert scale and was dichotomized for OR.

Table 4. Accessibility to RGP.

Variable	Number = n	%
Overall access to GP	n = 394
Always/almost always	186	47
A lot of the time	80	20
Some of the time	51	13
Never or almost never	21	6
Not tried at this GP	56	14
Access at last visit	n = 395
Yes	246	62
No, doctor not in service	39	10
No, booked appointment to another doctor	8	2
No, long wait time to RGP	10	3
Preferred no specific doctor	92	23

GP: general practitioner; RGP: regular general practitioner.