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Background: The quality of the general practitioners' setting of diagnoses using codes from the International Classification for Primary Care (ICPC) is important, because these codes are used for purposes of quality development, research and public health statistics. It is uncertain, however, to what extent these diagnoses present a correct picture of the content of and reasons for the consultations and the prevalence of illness in the population. The objective of this study was to identify the extent to which the general practitioners' use of diagnostic codes correlates with the content of the patient record notes., Material and Method: A total of 23 general practitioners from five different medical centres in Agder county participated in the study. The patient record notes from all patient contacts over two working days in 2013 were reviewed by two experienced general practitioners who assessed the degree of correspondence between the content of the patient record notes and the concomitant ICPC diagnostic codes., Results: A total of 1 819 patient contact were assessed, and for 1 591 of these (87.5 %) it was possible to assess the correspondence between the patient record notes and the diagnosis. We found good correspondence for 693 (85.3 %) consultations and 321 (69.9 %) simple contacts with issuance of a prescription. For simple contacts with no issuance of a prescription there was good correspondence for 213 (83.9 %), although 144 of a total of 398 (36.2 %) could not be assessed because the patient record notes were absent, too brief or imprecise., Interpretation: The diagnoses made during consultations corresponded well with the patient record notes examined in this study. The results may indicate that caution should be exercised in including simple contacts in the data on diagnoses in public statistics. The findings should be followed up in larger-scale and more representative national studies.

Background: The use of snus during pregnancy increases the risk of stillbirths, premature delivery and reduced birthweight. People have been warned against smoking during pregnancy, but less so against the use of snus. We have investigated the use of snus and smoking tobacco among pregnant women in the Agder counties., Material and Method: Data on pregnant women and 10 583 births for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014 were retrieved from the electronic birth records of Sørlandet Hospital., Results: In the three-year period 2012 – 2014, altogether 5  % used snus and 19  % used smoking tobacco before pregnancy and 2  % and 8  % respectively at the end of pregnancy. The use of snus before pregnancy increased from 3.6  % in 2012 to 6.8  % in 2014. The equivalent figures for the first trimester were 1.7  % and 3.4  %, and for the last trimester 1.2  % and 2.1  %. The use of smoking tobacco declined by 2  % over the three-year period. In the age group 16 – 24 years, a total of 12  % used snus before pregnancy and 5  % at the end. Of 522 women who used snus before their pregnancy, altogether 57.5  % had quit during the first trimester and 71.4  % during the third trimester. The corresponding figures for those 2 015 women who used smoking tobacco before their pregnancy were 45.2  % and 58.0  % (p < 0.001)., Interpretation: The use of snus before and during pregnancy doubled over the three-year period 2012 – 2014. The use was especially widespread in the youngest age groups. The proportion of women who quit using snus during their pregnancy was significantly higher than the proportion that quit smoking.