© 1987 Oxford University Press
research-article |
Tool for Validation of the Network of Sentinel General Practitioners in the Belgian Health Care System
Department of Epidemiology. Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology 14 J Wytsman St. 1050 Brussels. Belgium
Morbidity registration by a network of sentinel general practitioners (SGPs) in Belgium raises a number of problems related to possible biases in the network procedure, such as unequal geographical distribution, non-participation of asegment of the target population of practitioners and difficulties in the estimation of the denominator population at risk for the health problems under study.
Through the application of two hierarchical clustering procedures, the initial number of 43 districts in the country has been reduced to 15 homogeneous district clusters. These represent the new geographical framework from which the geographical spread of the network is checked.
This network is subsequently corrected for such socio-demographic parameters as age, sex and occupation in order to match more closely the total population of Belgian general practitioners (GPs).
The population covered by the network is estimated on the basis of the annual number of patient contacts. Application of the described procedures should result in a network allowing valid estimations for a number of health issues as seen by Belgian GPs.
Received 1 August 1986
CiteULike 
Connotea 
Del.icio.us What's this?
This article has been cited by other articles:
|
|
 |
|
  L. Van den Block, R. Deschepper, J. Bilsen, N. Bossuyt, V. Van Casteren, and L. Deliens Euthanasia and other end of life decisions and care provided in final three months of life: nationwide retrospective study in Belgium BMJ, July 30, 2009; 339(jul30_2): b2772 - b2772. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Van den Block, R. Deschepper, N. Bossuyt, K. Drieskens, S. Bauwens, V. Van Casteren, and L. Deliens Care for Patients in the Last Months of Life: The Belgian Sentinel Network Monitoring End-of-Life Care Study Arch Intern Med, September 8, 2008; 168(16): 1747 - 1754. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 L. Van den Block, R. Deschepper, J. Bilsen, V. Van Casteren, and L. Deliens Transitions Between Care Settings at the End of Life in Belgium JAMA, October 10, 2007; 298(14): 1638 - 1639. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. A Donker, D. M Fleming, F. G Schellevis, and P. Spreeuwenberg Differences in treatment regimes, consultation frequency and referral patterns of diabetes mellitus in general practice in five European countries Fam. Pract., August 1, 2004; 21(4): 364 - 369. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. Devroey, V. Van Casteren, and A. Sasse How are patients informed about their HIV test results? Fam. Pract., April 1, 2002; 19(2): 125 - 127. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 J. Wens, V. Van Casteren, E. Vermeire, P. Van Royen, and J. Denekens Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetic Population in Belgium Diabetes Care, March 1, 2002; 25(3): 637 - 638. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D Devroey, V Van Casteren, and J De Lepeleire Revealing regional differences in the institutionalization of adult patients in homes for the elderly and nursing homes: results of the Belgian network of sentinel GPs Fam. Pract., January 1, 2001; 18(1): 39 - 41. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
H. Wauters, V. Van Casteren, and F. Buntinx Rectal bleeding and colorectal cancer in general practice: diagnostic study BMJ, October 21, 2000; 321(7267): 998 - 999. [Full Text]
|
|