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Background Antibiotics provide minimal benefit for sore throat, otitis media, and sinusitis. Antibiotic stewardship, with reduced prescribing, is required to address antibiotic resistance. As most antibiotic prescribing occurs in general practice and prescribing habits develop early, general practitioner (GP) trainees (registrars) are important for effective antibiotic stewardship. Objectives To establish temporal trends in Australian registrars' antibiotic prescribing for acute sore throat, acute otitis media, and acute sinusitis. Design A longitudinal analysis of data from the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) study from 2010 to 2019. Participants ReCEnT is an ongoing cohort study of registrars' in-consultation experiences and clinical behaviours. Pre-2016, 5 of 17 Australian training regions participated. From 2016, 3 of 9 regions (42% of Australian registrars) participate. Main measures The outcome was prescription of an antibiotic for a new acute problem/diagnosis of sore throat, otitis media, or sinusitis. The study factor was year (2010–2019). Key results Antibiotics were prescribed in 66% of sore throat diagnoses, 81% of otitis media, and in 72% of sinusitis. Prescribing frequencies decreased between 2010 and 2019 by 16% for sore throat (from 76% to 60%) by 11% for otitis media (from 88% to 77%) and by 18% for sinusitis (from 84% to 66%). In multivariable analyses, "Year" was associated with reduced prescribing for sore throat (OR 0.89; 95%CI 0.86–0.92; p < 0.001), otitis media (OR 0.90; 95%CI 0.86–0.94; p < 0.001), and sinusitis (OR 0.90; 95%CI 0.86, 0.94; p < 0.001). Conclusions Registrars' prescribing rates for sore throat, otitis media, and sinusitis significantly decreased during the period 2010–2019. However, educational (and other) interventions to further reduce prescribing are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To establish prevalence and associations of provision of nursing home visits (NHV) and home visits (HV) by early‐career specialist GPs. Of particular interest were associations of rurality with performing NHVs and HVs. Methods: A cross‐sectional study. Design: A questionnaire‐based study. Setting: Australian general practice. Participants: Early‐career specialist GPs, practising in Australia, who attained Fellowship between January 2016 and July 2018, inclusive, having completed GP training in NSW, the ACT, Eastern Victoria or Tasmania. Main Outcome Measures: Current provision of NHV and HV. Results: NHV were provided by 34% of participants (59% in rural areas) and HV by 41% of participants (60% in rural areas). Remote, rural or regional practice location, as compared to major‐city practice, was strongly associated with performing NHV as an early‐career specialist GP; multivariable OR 5.87 (95% CI: 2.73, 12.6), p < 0.001, and with the provision of HV; multivariable OR 3.64 (95% CI: 1.63, 8.11), p = 0.002. Rurality of GP training (prior to attaining Fellowship) was significantly univariably associated with providing NHV and with providing HV as an early‐career specialist GP. On multivariable analyses, these were no longer statistically significant. Conclusion: Early‐career specialist GPs located in regional/remote areas are more likely than their urban colleagues to provide NHV and HV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Remunerated telehealth consultations were introduced in Australia in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Videoconferencing has advantages over telephone-consulting, including improved diagnostic and decision-making accuracy. However, videoconferencing uptake in Australia has been low. This study aimed to establish prevalence and associations of video versus telephone consultations in Australian general practice (GP) registrars' practice. Methods A cross-sectional analysis of data from 2020 to 2021 (three 6-monthly data-collection rounds) from the Registrars Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) study. GP registrars record details of 60 consecutive consultations every 6-month term, for a total of 3 terms. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression were performed within the Generalized Estimating Equations framework with the outcome video versus telephone. Results 102,286 consultations were recorded by 1,168 registrars, with 21.4% of consultations performed via telehealth. Of these, telephone accounted for 96.6% (95% CI: 96.3–96.8%) and videoconferencing for 3.4% (95% CI: 3.2–3.7%). Statistically significant associations of using videoconferencing, compared to telephone, included longer consultation duration (OR 1.02, 95% CI: 1.01–1.03 per minute; and mean 14.9 versus 12.8 min), patients aged 0–14 years old (OR 1.29, 95% CI: 1.03–1.62, compared to age 15–34), patients new to the registrar (OR 1.19, 95% CI: 1.04–1.35), part-time registrars (OR 1.84, 95% CI: 1.08–3.15), and areas of less socioeconomic disadvantage (OR 1.27, 95% CI: 1.00–1.62 per decile). Conclusions Registrars' telehealth consultations were mostly performed via telephone. Telephone use being associated with socioeconomic disadvantage has health equity implications. Future research should explore barriers to videoconferencing use and strategies to increase its uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. The aim of the study was to establish whether two previously described barriers to effective in-consultation assistance-seeking by general practice (GP) vocational specialist trainees (ie concern about patient impressions of their competence, and discomfort presenting to supervisors in front of patients) influenced the frequency of trainee in-consultation assistanceseeking from their supervisor. Methods. This was a cross-sectional study nested in the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Clinical Training ongoing cohort study of Australian GP trainees. Trainee participants completed contemporaneous records of 60 consecutive patient consultations, including whether supervisory assistance was sought. Trainees also completed a cross-sectional survey including items eliciting their beliefs about patient impressions and their own discomfort in seeking in-consultation supervisory assistance. These were factors of interest in multivariable logistic regression analyses; the outcome factor in both regression models was the seeking of inconsultation supervisory assistance. Results. In 2018, 778 trainees (778/876, response rate 89%) completed the cross-sectional survey. No association was found between the odds of inconsultation help-seeking and perceived decrease in patient impressions of trainee competence (OR = 1.09; 95% CI: 0.91, 1.31; P = 0.36) or higher comfort presenting outside patients' hearing (OR = 0.9; 95% CI: 0.77, 1.05; P = 0.19). Discussion. Contrary to expected utility models of helpseeking, trainees may not consider personal discomfort or impression management to be important enough, compared to patient safety and other considerations, to influence decisions regarding in-consultation help-seeking. Clinical supervisors should, nevertheless, consider the potential personal costs to trainees and maintain trainee self-esteem and confidence by providing in-consultation assistance in front of patients as comfortably and effectively as possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic, remuneration was introduced for Australian general practice telehealth consultations. General practitioner (GP) trainees' telehealth use is of clinical, educational, and policy importance. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and associations of telehealth versus face-to-face consultations amongst Australian GP registrars (vocational GP trainees). Methods Cross-sectional analysis of data from the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training (ReCEnT) study, from 2020 to 2021 (three 6-month terms), including registrars in 3 of Australia's 9 Regional Training Organisations. In ReCEnT, GP registrars record details of 60 consecutive consultations, 6 monthly. The primary analysis used univariate and multivariable logistic regression, with outcome of whether the consultation was conducted via telehealth (phone and videoconference) or face-to-face. Results 1,168 registrars recorded details of 102,286 consultations, of which 21.4% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 21.1%–21.6%) were conducted via telehealth. Statistically significant associations of a telehealth consultation included shorter consultation duration (odds ratio [OR] 0.93, 95% CI: 0.93–0.94; and mean 12.9 versus 18.7 min); fewer problems addressed per consultation (OR 0.92, 95% CI: 0.87–0.97); being less likely to seek assistance from a supervisor (OR 0.86, 95% CI: 0.76–0.96) while being more likely to generate learning goals (OR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.02–1.37); and being more likely to arrange a follow-up consultation (OR 1.18, 95% CI: 1.02–1.35). Conclusions That telehealth consultations were shorter, with higher rates of follow-up, has GP workforce/workload implications. That telehealth consultations were less likely to involve in-consultation supervisor support, but more likely to generate learning goals, has educational implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Access to after‐hours care (AHC) is an important aspect of general practice service provision. Objective: To establish the prevalence and associations of early‐career GPs' provision of AHC. Design: An analysis of data from the New alumni Experiences of Training and independent Unsupervised Practice (NEXT‐UP) cross‐sectional questionnaire‐based study. Participants were early‐career GPs (6‐month to 2‐year post‐Fellowship) following the completion of GP vocational training in NSW, the ACT, Victoria or Tasmania. The outcome factor was 'current provision of after‐hours care'. Associations of the outcome were established using multivariable logistic regression. Findings: Three hundred and fifty‐four early‐career GPs participated (response rate 28%). Of these, 322 had responses available for analysis of currently performing AHC. Of these observations, 128 (40%) reported current provision of AHC (55% of rural participants and 32% of urban participants). On multivariable analysis, participants who provided any AHC during training were more likely to be providing AHC (odds ratio (OR) 5.51, [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.80–10.80], p < 0.001). Current rural location and in‐training rural experience were strongly associated with currently providing AHC in univariable but not multivariable analysis. Discussion: Early‐career GPs who provided AHC during training, compared with those who did not, were more than five times more likely to provide after‐hours care in their first 2 years after gaining Fellowship, suggesting participation in AHC during training may have a role in preparing registrars to provide AHC as independent practitioners. Conclusion: These findings may inform future GP vocational training policy and practice concerning registrars' provision of AHC during training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While GPs are working fewer clinical hours and many GP trainees (registrars) do not foresee themselves working full-time in clinical practice, little is known of the epidemiology of registrars training part-time. We aimed to establish the prevalence of general practice part-time training (PTT), and part-time registrars' characteristics and practice patterns. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted of data from the Registrar Clinical Encounters in Training project, an ongoing cohort study of Australian GP registrars' clinical experiences over 60 consecutive consultations in each of three training terms. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were conducted with the outcome 'training part-time'. 1790 registrars contributed data for 4,135 registrar-terms and 241,945 clinical encounters. Nine hundred and twenty-two registrar-terms (22%, 95%CI:21%–24%) and 52,339 clinical encounters (22%, 95%CI:21%–22%) involved PTT. Factors associated with PTT were registrar characteristics – female gender, older age, in a later training stage, performing other regular medical work; practice characteristics – working in a higher socioeconomic status area; and patient characteristics – seeing more patients new to the registrar and seeing more patients from a non-English-speaking background. No consultation or consultation action factors were significantly associated with PTT. Registrars, practices, and patient associations have GP training implications. The lack of registrar consultation or consultation action associations suggests there may be limited impact of PTT on patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]