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Authors

Helena Britt

Email: helena.britt@sydney.edu.au
BA, PhD, Associate Professor and Director, Family Medicine Research Centre, University of Sydney, Parramatta, NSW

‘The kids are alright’ – Changes in GP consultations with children 2000–15

MethodWe analysed GP encounters with children aged <15 years that were collected in the Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health (BEACH) program from April 2000 to March 2003 and April 2012...


Antenatal care in Australian general practice

Pregnancy is commonly managed in general practice.1 In contrast to the UK, Canada and New Zealand, where general practitioner (GP) involvement in pregnancy care has decreased, GPs in Australia...




BEACH program update

General practitioners (GPs) are the gatekeepers to our healthcare system and provide the majority of health services to the estimated 23.3 million residents in Australia.1 In 2013–14, government...






Chronic alcohol abuse

Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs in Australia. According to the 2013 National Drug Strategy Household Survey (NDSHS), about four out of five Australians aged ≥14 years consumed...


Chronic skin ulcers

A rapid rise in the treatment of chronic wounds in the United States has been linked to an ageing population and an increasing incidence of diabetes and obesity.1 In Australia, we also have an...


Common general practice presentations and publication frequency

A 2002 United States survey indicated that most doctors (83%) choose topic areas for continuing medical education programs that constitute a significant part of their regular practice.1 While GPs...


Comorbidities and risk factors among patients with schizophrenia

Patients with schizophrenia tend to present with physical complaints at a later, more serious stage. They also have a significantly higher incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus, coronary heart...


Consultations conducted in languages other than English in Australian general practice

Effective communication between general practitioners (GPs) and their patients is essential to the provision of high-quality care and the best health outcomes for patients. Criterion 1.2.3 of The...






General practice encounters with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Of the encounters with patients who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, 63% were with patients aged less than 45 years and 37% were aged 45 years or older; the average age was 36...


General practice encounters with men

Men’s health is often described in terms of male-specific (sexual and reproductive health) problems, but it is their broader health behaviours and use of health services that contribute to their...


General practice Workforce gaps now and in 2020

The general practice workforce required for Australia in the future will depend on many factors, including geographic areas and patient utilisation of general practice services.


Gestational diabetes

We sought to investigate whether similar patterns of GDM existed in Australian general practice using the BEACH data. Between April 1998 and March 2013, 14 770 GPs collected information on 419 785...



Globus hystericus

Each year on average in the BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) program, GH has been managed at 6.7 per 100 000 recorded general practice encounters (about 670 times a year...


Infants Encounters and management in general practice

We analysed 2123 encounters with infants aged less than 4 months – recorded between January 2010 and December 2011 – for RFE, problems managed and type of management provided. About 1% of BEACH...


Infertility Management in Australian general practice

There was one infertility/subfertility problem managed at each of the 652 encounters: 81.6% with female patients and 18.4% with male. Infertility/subfertility was most commonly managed for patients...




Management of childhood 
asthma in general practice

Asthma is among the most commonly managed chronic problems in general practice.1 About 2.3 million Australians (10.2%) had asthma in 2011–12, a significantly lower prevalence than in 2001 (11.6%).2...


Management of chronic heart failure in general practice in Australia

Chronic heart failure is a clinical syndrome associated with unpleasant symptoms such as shortness of breath, ankle swelling and fatigue.1 In Australia, the National Health Survey reported an...


Management of Department of Veterans’ Affairs patients in general practice

BackgroundService in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) can be physically and mentally demanding. A report on the mental health of current serving personnel found they had a similar prevalence of...


Management of nonmelanoma skin cancers

Basal cell carcinomas made up the majority (56.8%) of NMSC problems managed: squamous cell carcinoma accounted for onethird, and skin carcinomas unspecified made up about 10% of these conditions...


Measuring general practice activity in Australia: A brief history

Health services research on general practice that aimed to improve the function of practice and quality of care dates from the seminal ethnographic study of English general practice by Australian...



Multimorbidity

This paper reports on the proportion of patients with multiple chronic conditions at GP encounters, using data from a 2008–2009 BEACH 
sub-study that measured the prevalence of chronic conditions.4...





Neuropathic pain

This lack of information led us to design a sub-study of the BEACH program, surveying 2654 patients from 91 general practitioners in late 2012, to determine the prevalence of NP among patients seen...


Obstetric and gynaecological problems in Australian general practice

Published literature provides information about the prevalence of obstetric and gynaecological problems in the population. Many of these conditions are more prevalent in specific age groups. For...



Optimising the use of observational electronic health record data: Current issues, evolving opportunities, strategies and scope for collaboration

General practice is the cornerstone of primary care in Australia. The computerisation of general practice has placed general practitioners (GPs) at the forefront of moves to use the pooled data...


Orders for thyroid function tests Changes over 10 years

Figure 1 demonstrates a relatively steady increase over the decade in the number of thyroid function tests ordered for every 100 problems managed, from 1.1 (95% CI: 1.0–1.2) per 100 problems in...



Paediatric psychological problems

In this article we report changes in the GP management rate of psychological problems at encounters with patients aged 6–11 years (inclusive), annually over 13 years (April 2000–March 2013). These...


Patient use of the internet for health information

The internet could be an effective additional source of health information for patients. Although there is an abundance of literature about online health information seeking and its benefits...


Plantar fasciitis in Australian general practice

Plantar fasciitis (PF) is reported to be the most common cause of chronic inferior heel pain.1 Risk factors include obesity, occupations with prolonged standing, pes planus, limited ankle...


Post-traumatic stress disorder in veterans

More than 500 000 encounters were recorded in BEACH over the study period and 12 380 of those encounters were with patients who had a repatriation health card. Half of these veterans (50.2%) were...


Premature ejaculation

In BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health), between April 2007 and March 2012, PE was managed at only 28 per 100 000 encounters with adult male patients. In December 2008 to January...


Prescribing by GP age

Younger GPs were more likely to be female, hold FRACGP, be an Australian graduate and work in a group practice. Older GPs were more likely to manage patients who: were male, were aged 45+ years...


Psychological encounters in general practice

From 2003–04 to 2011–12 in the BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) program, information was collected on 879 400 encounters from 8794 GPs. At least one psychological problem was...


Changes over 5 years

In both time periods, male and female patients were referred at similar rates. In 2008–11, adult patients were significantly more likely to be referred to A&E than in 2003–07. While...


Referrals to A&E Changes over 5 years

In both time periods, male and female patients were referred at similar rates. In 2008–11, adult patients were significantly more likely to be referred to A&E than in 2003–07. While A&E...


Rheumatoid arthritis

Rheumatoid arthritis was managed 716 times in the two-year period, at four in every 1000 encounters, and made up 0.2% of all problems managed. About three-quarters of patients (77.5%) at RA...



Skin cancer by state and territory

By way of comparison, the age-standardised incidence of melanoma (2004–2008) was 48.7 per 100,000 persons in Australia – highest in Queensland (64.3) and lowest in the Northern Territory (30.5).3...


Suicide-related contacts Experience in general practice

Figure 1 shows the patient characteristic-specific rate of SRCs. Patients aged 15–24 years had the highest likelihood of having an SRC, followed by those aged 25–44 years. Patients from regional...


Testing for gluten sensitivity

We examined the likelihood of general practitioners (GPs) ordering at least one of three coeliac/gluten-associated tests (CGATs) at BEACH GP–patient encounters in Australia in April 2000–March 2014...


The changing face of Australian general practice across the decades

General practice has always been the cornerstone of Australia’s healthcare system. Almost all Australians (85%) visit a general practitioner (GP) at least once in any given year,1 and GPs act as...


Tobacco smoking

From April 2012 to March 2013, general practitioner (GP) BEACH participants recorded the current smoking status of 32,276 patients aged ≥18 years. Over half of the patients had never smoked and one...


Travel advice and vaccination

Travel advice and vaccination for general practice patients before their travel was investigated in a sub-study of the Bettering the Evaluation And Care of Health (BEACH) program in May and June...


Type 2 diabetes and obesity in young adults

IntroductionType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) occurs when there is an inadequate secretion of insulin in response to varying degrees of overnutrition, inactivity, consequential overweight or obesity,...


Who do Australian general practitioners refer to physiotherapy?

Physiotherapists are the fifth largest health workforce group in Australia. In 2014, there were 11,608 full-time equivalent physiotherapists working in private practice.1,2 In Australia...


Work related encounters in general practice

When compared with the BEACH average, patients seen at work related encounters were more likely to be male (54.8% vs 39.1%) than female (44.3% vs 60.9%). The age distribution of patients at work...


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