Characteristics of GPs participating in PaTz groups in pre- and post-measurement
| Before start of PaTz (n= 195) | 1 year after start of PaTza (n= 166) | OR (95% CI)b | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GP age, years, mean (SD) | 49.5 (8.5) | NA | |
| GP sex, female, n (%) | 99 (50.8) | NA | |
| Number of years working as GP, mean (SD) | 17.3 (9.1) | NA | |
| Type of GP practice, n (%) | NA | ||
| Solo | 39 (20.0) | ||
| Duo | 53 (27.2) | ||
| Group | 62 (31.8) | ||
| Health centre | 31 (15.9) | ||
| Other | 10 (5.1) | ||
| Works full time | 80 (41.0) | NA | |
| Number of patients, n (%) | NA | ||
| <1000 patients | 5 (2.6) | ||
| 1000–1500 patients | 23 (11.8) | ||
| 1500–2000 patients | 46 (23.6) | ||
| >2000 patients | 121 (62.1) | ||
| Received training/schooling in palliative care (besides regular GP education), n (%) | 117 (60.0) | NA | |
| Systematically identifies patients with palliative care needs, n (%) | |||
| Yes, all palliative care patients | 34 (17.6) | 89 (54.3) | 1 (ref) |
| Yes, some palliative care patients | 87 (45.1) | 36 (22.0) | 0.158 (0.091 to 0.274) |
| No | 72 (37.3) | 39 (23.8) | 0.207 (0.119 to 0.359) |
| Use of a care plan for palliative care patients, n (%) | |||
| Yes, for all palliative care patients | 18 (9.4) | 20 (12.4) | 1 (ref) |
| Yes, for some palliative care patients | 77 (40.3) | 84 (52.2) | 0.982 (0.486 to 1.986) |
| No | 96 (50.3) | 57 (35.4) | 0.534 (0.262 to 1.088) |
| Discussions with fellow GPs on palliative care patients, (structural or ad hoc), n (%) | 97 (49.7) | 88 (53.3) | 1.155 (0.764 to 1.746) |
| Discussions with community nurses on palliative care patients (structural or ad hoc), n (%) | 113 (58.9) | 89 (54.3) | 0.829 (0.545 to 1.261) |
| Who offers care to patients with palliative care needs after office hours? n (%) | |||
| Myself | 78 (40.0) | 56 (34.4) | 1 (ref) |
| Out-of-hours locum, and also myself | 87 (44.6) | 92 (56.4) | 1.473 (0.940 to 2.306) |
| Out-of-hours locum | 30 (15.4) | 15 (9.2) | 0.696 (0.344 to 1.408) |
| Information transfer to locum, n (%) | |||
| Yes, for all palliative care patients | 104 (53.3) | 96 (58.9) | 1 (ref) |
| Yes, for some palliative care patients | 86 (44.1) | 66 (40.5) | 0.831 (0.545 to 1.266) |
| No | 5 (2.6) | 1 (0.6) | 0.217 (0.025 to 1.855) |
| Ratingc on continuity of care for palliative care patients within the practice (SD) | 7.7 (0.8) | 7.9 (0.6) | 1.372 (1.024 to 1.838) |
| Ratingc on coordination of care for palliative care patients within the practice (SD) | 7.2 (1.0) | 7.5 (0.8) | 1.575 (1.227 to 2.021) |
| Ratingc on own competence to deliver palliative care (SD) | 7.4 (0.8) | 7.7 (0.6) | 1.970 (1.417 to 2.739) |
↵a NA = not asked; these questions were not included in the post-measurement.
↵b OR = odds ratio and CI; multilevel analysis adjusted for PaTz group. Number of missing values ranges between 0 and 12 (for the three ratings). Results in bold: P<0.05.
↵c On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being ‘poor’ and 10 being ‘good’. PaTz = PAlliatieve Thuis Zorg, palliative care at home. Ref = reference. SD = standard deviation.