Norwegian study: People who have had the same GP for a long time have a lower risk of death

New research shows that patients who have had the same GP for more than 15 years have a 25% lower risk of death than those with a new doctor during the first year.

In a Norwegian study recently published in the British Journal of General Practice, it has been discovered that patients who have had the same GP for a long time have a lower risk of death. They are also less likely to go to the emergency room and be hospitalized.

“GPs are specialists for their patients. It can make it easier to detect changes in the patient and avoid exposing them to unnecessary and dangerous examinations,” professor Hogne Sandvik, who has led the work, told Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).

The research was done in a collaboration between the University of Bergen and the research institute Norce by checking the figures related to the General Practitioner Register, Statistics Norway, the Patient Health Register, and the KUHR register. 

When the information from the various registers was put together, a clear difference emerged between patients with and without a long-term GP.

“It can be life-saving to be treated by a doctor who knows you. If you lose access to a GP you have had for more than 15 years, the risk of needing emergency treatment or death increases drastically the following year,” Sandvik said in connection with the study being published, Dagens Medisin wrote.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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