Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2015 Jul;48(5):452-6.
doi: 10.1007/s00391-014-0820-9. Epub 2014 Oct 7.

[Approaches of general practitioners and patients to multimorbidity. Qualitative study]

[Article in German]
Christin Löffler  1 , Attila Altiner, Waldemar Streich, Carl-Otto Stolzenbach, Angela Fuchs, Eva Drewelow, Anne Hornung, Gregor Feldmeier, Hendrik van den Bussche, Hanna Kaduszkiewicz
Affiliations

[Approaches of general practitioners and patients to multimorbidity. Qualitative study]

[Article in German]
Christin Löffler et al. Z Gerontol Geriatr. 2015 Jul.

Abstract

Background: For general practioners (GP) the treatment of patients suffering from multimorbidity is an everyday challenge. For these patients guidelines which each focus on a specific chronic disease cannot be applied comprehensively and equally; therefore, it is necessary to prioritize.

Objective: Given this situation the study aimed at analyzing how GPs and patients deal with this challenge and what their priorities are.

Material and methods: Narrative interviews were conducted with 9 GPs and 19 of their multimorbid patients. The data were analyzed by means of content analysis.

Results: The majority of interviewed patients felt well or very well cared for by their GPs; however, GPs and multimorbid patients often had relatively different priorities. Whereas GPs mostly focused on the management of diseases that could lead to life-threatening situations, patients put an emphasis on maintaining autonomy and a social life.

Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that there is room for development in the way GPs and multimorbid patients communicate with each other, particularly as far as shared priority setting is concerned.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Soc Sci Med. 1991;32(5):541-8 - PubMed
    1. Eur J Gen Pract. 2010 Mar;16(1):51-4 - PubMed
    1. Z Gerontol Geriatr. 2011 Dec;44 Suppl 2:73-100 - PubMed
    1. Eur J Gen Pract. 2014 Jun;20(2):139-47 - PubMed
    1. J Gen Intern Med. 2008 Jun;23(6):788-93 - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources