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Interdisciplinary cooperation of GPs in palliative care at home: A nationwide survey in the Netherlands
Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care, 10/09/08

Borgsteede SD et al. - In a trial to investigate the occurrence and predictors of interdisciplinary cooperation of GPs with other caregivers in palliative care at home, it was found that in palliative care pts, GP interdisciplinary cooperation with other caregivers is highly prevalent, especially with informal caregivers and other primary care collaborators. Cooperation is most prevalent in younger pts, pts with cancer as underlying disease, and if psychosocial care is important

Methods

• In a study of 96 general practices, GPs involved identified all dying pts during the study period of 12 months
• GPs received an additional post-mortem questionnaire for each pt who died during the study period, and registered the healthcare providers with whom they cooperated
• Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify the predictors of GP cooperation with other caregivers

Results

• During the study period, 2194 pts died; GPs returned 73% of the questionnaires
• According to the GPs, 46% of their pts received palliative care
• In 98% of palliative care pts, the GP cooperated with at least 1 other caregiver, with a mean number of 4
• Cooperation with informal caregivers (83%) was most prevalent, followed by cooperation with other GPs (71%) and district nurses (63%)
• Best predictors of cooperation between GPs and other caregivers were the pt's age, the underlying disease, and importance of psychosocial care

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