Abstract
BackgroundFrequent paediatric attendances make up a large proportion of a GP's workload. Currently, there is no systematic review on frequent paediatric attendances in primary care.AimTo identify the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of children who attend primary care frequently.Design & settingA systematic review.MethodThe electronic databases MEDLINE, Embase, and PsycINFO were searched up to January 2020, using terms relating to frequent attendance in primary care settings. Studies were eligible if they considered children frequently attending in primary care (aged 0–19 years). Relevant data were extracted and analysed by narrative synthesis.ResultsSix studies, of fair quality overall, were included in the review. Frequent attendance was associated with presence of psychosocial and mental health problems, younger age, school absence, presence of chronic conditions, and high level of anxiety in their parents.ConclusionVarious sociodemographic and medical characteristics of children were associated with frequent attendance in primary care. Research on interventions needs to account for the social context and community characteristics. Integrating GP services with mental health and social care could potentially provide a response to medical and psychosocial needs of frequently attending children and their families.
Highlights
Primary care services in the UK are under pressure due to increasing patient demand and growing case complexity
Frequent attendance was associated with presence of psychosocial and mental health problems, younger age, school absence, presence of chronic conditions, and high level of anxiety in their parents
Various sociodemographic and medical characteristics of children were associated with frequent attendance in primary care
Summary
Primary care services in the UK are under pressure due to increasing patient demand and growing case complexity. Such demand might be intensified by repeat visits by the same patients. Frequent attenders are a small group of primary care patients who attend for a disproportionate amount of primary care visits.[1] health services providers, whether public or private, are interested in providing appropriate solutions for patients who make up a large proportion of GP workload.[2] A previous review on frequent attenders reported that the top 10% of attenders accounted for 30% to 50% of all primary care consultations.[3] Frequent attendance in primary care is a recurrent behaviour, where 40% of users are likely to continue to frequently attend in the following year of follow-u p.3. Frequent paediatric attendances make up a large proportion of a GP's workload. There is no systematic review on frequent paediatric attendances in primary care
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