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
. 2020 Oct 16;18(1):76.
doi: 10.1186/s12960-020-00520-9.

The association between the workload of general practitioners and patient experiences with care: results of a cross-sectional study in 33 countries

Willemijn L A Schäfer  1 , Michael J van den Berg  2 , Peter P Groenewegen  3   4   5
Affiliations

The association between the workload of general practitioners and patient experiences with care: results of a cross-sectional study in 33 countries

Willemijn L A Schäfer et al. Hum Resour Health. .

Abstract

Background: The workload of general practitioners (GPs) and dissatisfaction with work have been increasing in various Western countries over the past decades. In this study, we evaluate the relation between the workload of GPs and patients' experiences with care.

Methods: We collected data through a cross-sectional survey among 7031 GPs and 67,873 patients in 33 countries. Dependent variables are the patient experiences on doctor-patient communication, accessibility, continuity, and comprehensiveness of care. Independent variables concern the workload measured as the GP-reported work hours per week, average consultation times, job satisfaction (an indicator of subjective workload), and the difference between the workload measures of every GP and the average in their own country. Finally, we evaluated interaction effects between workload measures and what patients find important in a country and the presence of a patient-list system. Relationships were determined through multilevel regression models.

Results: Patients of GPs who are happier with their work were found to experience better communication, continuity, access, and comprehensiveness. When GPs are more satisfied compared to others in their country, patients also experience better quality. When GPs work more hours per week, patients also experience better quality of care, but not in the area of accessibility. A longer consultation time, also when compared to the national average, is only related to more comprehensive care. There are no differences in the relationships between countries with and without a patient list system and in countries where patients find the different quality aspects more important.

Conclusions: Patients experience better care when their GP has more work hours, longer consultation times, and especially, a higher job satisfaction.

Keywords: General practice; International comparison; Job satisfaction; Patient experiences; Workload.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Average values of patient experiences scale values by country and domain
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. van Oostrom SH, Gijsen R, Stirbu I, Korevaar JC, Schellevis FG, Picavet HS, et al. Time trends in prevalence of chronic diseases and multimorbidity not only due to aging: data from general practices and health surveys. PLoS One. 2016;11(8):e0160264. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160264. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Remington PL, Brownson RC. Centers for disease C, prevention. Fifty years of progress in chronic disease epidemiology and control. MMWR Suppl. 2011;60(4):70–77. - PubMed
    1. Busse R, Blümel M, Scheller-Kreinsen D, Zentner A. Tackling chronic diseases in Europe: strategies, interventions and challenges. United Kingdom: World Health Organization on behalf of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; 2010.
    1. World Health Organization. Global status report on noncommunicable diseases 2010. World Health Organization, 2011.
    1. World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2008: primary health care - now more than ever. Geneva 2008.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources