Ridge Andrew, Peterson Gregory M, Seidel Bastian M, Anderson Vinah, Nash Rosie
School of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, College of Health and Medicine, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.
Huon Valley Health Centre, Huonville, Tasmania, Australia.
J Patient Exp. 2022 Jan 4;9:23743735211069825. doi: 10.1177/23743735211069825. eCollection 2022.
Potentially preventable hospitalisations (PPHs) occur when patients receive hospital care for a condition that could have been more appropriately managed in the primary healthcare setting. It is anticipated that the causes of PPHs in rural populations may differ from those in urban populations; however, this is understudied. Semi-structured interviews with 10 rural Australian patients enabled them to describe their recent PPH experience. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify the common factors that may have led to their PPH. The analysis revealed that most participants had challenges associated with their health and its optimal self-management. Self-referral to hospital with the belief that this was the only treatment option available was also common. Most participants had limited social networks to call on in times of need or ill health. Finally, difficulty in accessing primary healthcare, especially urgently or after-hours, was described as a frequent cause of PPH. These qualitative accounts revealed that patients describe nonclinical risk factors as contributing to their recent PPH and reinforces that the views of patients should be included when designing interventions to reduce PPHs.
当患者因某种本可在基层医疗环境中得到更妥善管理的病症而接受住院治疗时，就会发生潜在可预防的住院情况（PPH）。预计农村人口PPH的成因可能与城市人口不同；然而，这方面的研究较少。对10名澳大利亚农村患者进行的半结构化访谈，使他们能够描述自己最近的PPH经历。采用反思性主题分析法来确定可能导致其PPH的共同因素。分析表明，大多数参与者在健康及其最佳自我管理方面存在挑战。认为自行前往医院是唯一可行治疗选择的自我转诊情况也很常见。大多数参与者在需要或健康不佳时可求助的社交网络有限。最后，难以获得基层医疗服务，尤其是紧急情况下或非工作时间的服务，被描述为PPH的常见原因。这些定性描述表明，患者认为非临床风险因素导致了他们最近的PPH，这也强化了在设计减少PPH的干预措施时应纳入患者观点的观点。
