Prevalence and associations of provision of nursing home visits and home visits by early-career specialist general practitioners

Objective

To establish prevalence and associations of provision of nursing home visits (NHV) and home visits (HV) by early-career specialist GPs. Of particular interest were associations of rurality with performing NHVs and HVs.

Methods

A cross-sectional study.

Design

A questionnaire-based study.

Setting

Australian general practice.

Participants

Early-career specialist GPs, practising in Australia, who attained Fellowship between January 2016 and July 2018, inclusive, having completed GP training in NSW, the ACT, Eastern Victoria or Tasmania.

Main Outcome Measures

Current provision of NHV and HV.

Results

NHV were provided by 34% of participants (59% in rural areas) and HV by 41% of participants (60% in rural areas). Remote, rural or regional practice location, as compared to major-city practice, was strongly associated with performing NHV as an early-career specialist GP; multivariable OR 5.87 (95% CI: 2.73, 12.6), p < 0.001, and with the provision of HV; multivariable OR 3.64 (95% CI: 1.63, 8.11), p = 0.002. Rurality of GP training (prior to attaining Fellowship) was significantly univariably associated with providing NHV and with providing HV as an early-career specialist GP. On multivariable analyses, these were no longer statistically significant.

Conclusion

Early-career specialist GPs located in regional/remote areas are more likely than their urban colleagues to provide NHV and HV.