Table 1.

Characteristics of included studies^a

Study	Country and setting	Population details	n	Study design	Follow-up	Follow-up sequence^b	Designed for CoC assessment? Y/N	Data source(s)	CoC measure	All-cause or disease-specific	Mortality measure mortality
*Selected study populations*
Wolinsky et al (2010)¹⁹	US, primary care	Aged >70 years	5457	Single retrospective cohort	12 years	CoC up to 12 years with mortality	N	Single interview with documentary follow-up	No more than 8 months between visits to the same primary care practitioner	All-cause	Medicare files
Worrall and Knight (2011)²⁰	Canada (Newfound land), family practice	Aged >65 years with diabetes	350	Single retrospective cohort	3 years	3-year CoC with 3-year mortality	N	Provincial administrative databases	UPC	All-cause	Mortality surveillance system
Leleu and Minvielle (2013)²¹	France, primary care	Salaried workers with ≥2 consultations, national sample	325 742	Single retrospective cohort	3 years	6-month CoC with 3-year mortality	N	National Health Insurance database records	COCI	All-cause	National Health Insurance database
McAlister et al (2013)²²	Canada (Alberta), primary care	Aged >20 years with acute admission with first-time diagnosis of heart failure	39 249	Single retrospective cohort	30 days	14-day + 1-year CoC then 30-day mortality	N	Alberta Health Administration databases	Seen by familiar physician <14 days of discharge	All-cause	Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan Registry
Bentler et al (2014)²³	US, primary care	Aged >65 years, Medicare patients	1219	Single cohort	5 years	1-year CoC with 5-year mortality	Y	Mailed questionnaire and record-based follow-up	Multiple measures	All cause	Medicare files
Nelson et al (2014)²⁴	US, primary care	Veterans with ≥2 consultations	4.3 million	Single retrospective cohort	1 year	1-year CoC then 1-year mortality	N	VHA records	UPC	All-cause	VHA files
Shin et al (2014)²⁵	South Korea, primary care	Hypertension, diabetes, or hypercholesterolaemia	47 433	Single retrospective cohort	5 years	2-year CoC then 5-year mortality	N	Korean National Health Insurance enrolees	UPC	All-cause and CVD	National death registry
Lustman et al (2016)²⁶	Israel, primary care	Aged 40–75 years, type 2 diabetes	23 679	Single retrospective cohort	2 years	1+1-year CoC with 1+1-year ^cmortality	N	HMO records database	UPC	All-cause	HMO records database
Maarsingh et al (2016)²⁷	The Netherlands, general practice	Aged ≥60 years	1712	Single retrospective cohort	17 years	7–17-year CoC then 1–14-year mortality	N	Triennial home interviews	Herfindahl–Hirschman Index	All-cause	Linked municipal registers
McAlister et al (2016)²⁸	Canada (Alberta), primary care	Aged >20 years, new diagnosis of heart failure made during an admission or ED attendance	24 373	Retrospective cohort	6 months	1-year + 1-month CoC then 6-month mortality	N	Alberta Health Administration databases	UPC	All-cause	Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan Registry
Geroldinger et al (2018)³¹	Austria, all medical disciplines and general practice	Aged ≥18 years with ≥2 diabetic medication records during index year	51 717	Single retrospective cohort	3.7 years	1-year CoC then mortality to study end	Y	Austrian social security database	Bice–Boxerman Continuity of Care Index	All-cause	Austrian social security database
*Entire primary care populations*
Levene et al (2012)²⁹	England, general practice	All patients	51.5 million	Cross-sectional	n/a	2-year CoC with 2-year mortality	N	NHS QOF and ONS data	Able to see preferred GP	All-cause, and CHD, cancer, stroke, COPD mortality	ONS
Honeyford et al (2013)³⁰	England, general practice	All patients, East Midlands	1.7 million	Cross-sectional	n/a	1-year CoC with 2-year mortality	N	NHS QOF and ONS data	Able to see preferred GP	CHD mortality	Primary Care Mortality Database

↵a Studies have been grouped according to whether selected or entire populations were included, and ordered by year of publication.
↵b CoC with mortality means overlapping measurement periods (mortality may extend longer); CoC then mortality means sequential measurement periods.
↵c The 2 years’ data collected and analysed separately and later combined when differences found to be statistically insignificant. CHD = coronary heart disease. CoC = continuity of care. COCI = Continuity of Care Index. COPD = chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. CVD = cardiovascular disease. ED = emergency department. HMO = Health Maintenance Organization. ONS = Office for National Statistics. QOF = Quality and Outcomes Framework. UPC = Usual Provider Continuity Index. VHA = Veterans Health Administration.