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The QUALICOPC (Quality and Costs of Primary Care in Europe) study aims to evaluate the performance of primary care systems in Europe in terms of quality, equity and costs. QUALICOPC is funded by the European Commission under the "Seventh Framework Program". In this article the background and design of the QUALICOPC study and also sample selection procedure in Turkey are described. Methods: QUALICOPC started in 2010 and will run until 2013. Data will be collected in 31 European countries (27 EU countries, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey). Some research centers/institutes which are in Australia, Israel and New Zealand also contributing to the study. The study uses a three level approach of data collection: the health supply system, practice and patient. Surveys will be held among general practitioners (GPs) and their patients, providing evidence at the process and outcome level of primary care. These surveys aim to gain insight on the professional behavior of GPs and the expectations and actions of their patients. To gather data on the structure and national level, the study uses existing data sources such as the Primary Health Care Activity Monitor Europe (PHAMEU) database. Data collection in Turkey will take place in 6 regions, each including 1 or 2 provinces, selected according to geographical distribution. Sample selection is based on Family Medicine Centers and provinces will be selected according to starting date of family medicine scheme. At least 10% of the sample will be selected among family physicians with vocational training and their patients. Conclusions: By its design, in which different data sources are combined for comprehensive analyses, QUALICOPC will contribute to the discussion on the merit of strengthening primary care systems and to evidence based health policy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Coordination function of primary care (PC) enables continuous, efficient, and cost-effective health care provided to patients with chronic disease and multimorbidity (MM). The aim of this study was to identify the most common chronic diseases and to determine the prevalence of MM in PC registries. Methods: Our study is a cross-sectional study. All the individuals aged 40 and over who were registered to the primary care units (PCUs) of the Uskudar district of Istanbul have formed the population of the study. A systematic cluster sampling was used. The patient list of each family physician in Uskudar district was accepted as a cluster and an equal number of patients from each cluster were enrolled. Only the information on the patients' MM data was requested from the primary care physicians. Results: The 108 physicians of the Uskudar district (response rate: 73.4%) gave consent to participate in the study. The 1187 (40.3%) of registered patients of all PCUs were 40 years old and over. The multimorbid patients were found as 330 (27.8%). Conclusions: Approximately, one of four patients have multimorbidity. So, the policy of primary care services should be redesigned for the management of MM patients including the 'goal-oriented care' approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is challenging nowadays for many authors to write and submit a scientific paper to peer reviewed journals due to strict editorial and reviewer evaluation processes and the competitive environment. For the dissemination of scientific papers (original research, literature review, case presentation, position paper etc.) relevant to Primary Health Care and General Practice it is important that authors understand the perspective of journal editors and their publication policies. This workshop aims to give an insight into the editorial evaluation process of a submitted manuscript and also to discuss the main aspects of preparing a manuscript for successful publication. The workshop will have the format of a highly interactive discussion. It will focus on the preparation and submission of scientific papers with special emphasis on choosing the appropriate journal, understanding the editor's perspective, peer review process, sharing experiences, common errors and how to prevent them. At the end of the workshop, participants will be able to get information about editorial evaluation and gain practical advice on how to successfully prepare a scientific paper for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the learnings gleaned from a four-country panel (Australia, South Africa, Egypt and Nigeria) sharing their countries' COVID-19 primary healthcare approaches and implementation of policy at the World Organization of Family Doctor's World virtual conference in November. The countries differ considerably with respect to size, national economies, average age, unemployment rates and proportion of people living rurally. South Africa has fared the worst with respect to waves of COVID-19 cases and deaths. All countries introduced strategies such as border closure, COVID-19 testing, physical distancing and face masks. Australia and Nigeria mobilised primary care, but the response was mostly public health and hospital-based in South Africa and Egypt. All countries rapidly adopted telehealth. All countries emphasised the critical importance of an integrated response between primary care and public health to conduct surveillance, diagnose cases through testing, provide community-based care unless hospitalisation is required and vaccinate the population to reduce infection spread. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]