Good primary care can lower death rate

DAVIS, Calif., Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Efforts to have U.S. adults get a "medical home" -- high-quality primary care -- could yield major public health benefits, researchers say.

Lead author Anthony Jerant, professor of family and community medicine at the University of California at Davis, and colleagues used data from the 2000-2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys -- large-scale surveys of U.S. adults, their health and healthcare.

The study involved 52,241 respondents ages 18-90, for whom mortality information was available and who had one particular doctor's office or clinic they visited for health information and treatment.

The researchers analyzed respondents' reported access to three primary healthcare attributes:

-- Comprehensiveness, which includes the provision of care for new health problems, preventive care and referrals to other healthcare professionals.

-- The availability of evening and weekend office hours.

-- Patient-centeredness, meaning that their healthcare provider listened to and sought the patient's advice when deciding on treatments.

The study found after adjusting for age, health status, weight, tobacco use and other health characteristics, greater reported access to the primary-care attributes was associated with significantly lower mortality during up to six years of follow-up.

The study is at www.annfammed.org.