The denominator in general practice, a new approach from the Intego database
The denominator in general practice, a new approach from the Intego database
复制标题
DOI：
10.1093/fampra/cmi054
复制
发表时间：
2005-08-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.2
通讯作者：
Buntinx, F
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Bartholomeeusen, S;Kim, CY;Buntinx, F
背景确定分母或“危险人群”是基于一般实践的流行病学研究中长期遇到的问题。这对于计算流行病学数字是很重要的。本文的目的是证明如何在没有患者名单的情况下，从一年内联系他们的GP的患者数量开始计算可靠的分母。因此，将从已知的方法给出一个简要的概述，然后新的方法将说明一个名为Intego的数据库，数据来自43个一般的做法，在Cumum.Methods。Intego数据库包含从参与者的结构化电子医疗记录系统中提取的有关患者联系人、诊断、实验室结果和药物处方的信息。一年内联系该诊所的患者数量可以从Intego数据中计算出来。另一方面，在特定时期咨询全科医生的人口百分比是从疾病基金提供的报销数据中获得的。通过结合这两个数据集，按年龄，性别和地区分层，计算校正因子。Intego执业人群的真实的规模的估计值是通过用该因子外推每年的接触组获得的。2003年，根据Intego登记册，64 161名患者联系了他们的家庭诊所，这与估计的80 094名患者的诊所人口相关。在估计的社会经济地位的缺席是无关的，在我们的模型估计的实践人口。在基于全科医学的研究中，分母的可用性对于计算流行病学数据至关重要。这种使用校正因子的方法可以计算出可靠的实践人口。类似的做法可能也适用于其他欧洲国家。
Background. To determine the denominator or the 'population at risk' is a problem which has long been encountered in general practice-based epidemiological research. It is important for calculating epidemiological figures.Objectives. The aim of this article is to demonstrate how in the absence of a patient list, a reliable denominator can be calculated, starting from the number of patients who contacted their GP in the period of one year. Therefore a brief overview will be given from known approaches, then the new approach will be illustrated on a database named Intego, with data from 43 general practices in Belgium.Methods. The Intego database contains information about patient contacts, diagnoses, laboratory results and drug prescriptions, extracted from the participants' structured electronic medical record system. The number of patients who contacted the practice in a year can be calculated from the Intego data. On the other hand, the percentage of the population that consults a GP during a particular period was obtained from the reimbursement claims data available from the sickness funds. By combining these two datasets, stratified by age, gender and district, a correction factor was calculated. An estimate of the real size of the Intego practice populations was obtained by extrapolating the yearly contact group by this factor.Results. In 2003 according the Intego-register, 64 161 patients contacted their family practice and this correlated with an estimated practice population of 80 094 patients. The absence of the socio-economic status in the estimation is irrelevant in our model of estimating the practice population.Conclusion. The availability of a denominator in general practice-based research is essential to calculate epidemiological figures. This method using a correction factor makes it possible to calculate a reliable practice population. A similar approach will probably also be applicable in other European countries.