title: Patient complaint cases in primary health care: what are the characteristics of general practitioners involved?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Limited knowledge exists about factors increasing the risk of general practitioners becoming involved in a complaint case or getting disciplined in connection with a complaint case.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The present study aimed to identify the general practitioner and practice characteristics associated with complaint cases and discipline.
  
  
  METHODS
  Information on general practitioners involved in complaint case decisions during one year (2007) was linked to Danish National register data on all general practitioners (n = 3,765). Logistic regression was used for statistical analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With regard to complaints concerning daytime services (n = 265), the professional seniority of the general practitioner was positively associated with the odds of receiving a complaint decision (OR = 1.44 per 20 years of seniority; CI 95%, 1.04-1.98). Likewise, having more consultations per day was associated with increased odds (OR = 1.29 per 10 extra consultations per day; CI 95%, 1.07-1.54). No statistically significant association could be demonstrated between being disciplined and general practitioner or practice characteristics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The possible relationship between professional seniority, rate of consultations, and complaint cases merits further studies to clarify the impact of professional seniority and workload on professional performance and to furthermore consider the role of factors such as job content and communication styles.
authors.affiliation: Research Unit for General Practice, Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark.
authors.forename: Søren
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Birkeland
authors.forename: Rene dePont
authors.initials: Rd
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.forename: Niels
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Damsbo
authors.forename: Jakob
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kragstrup
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003718:Denmark; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000941:ethics* / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D016526:Workload
references.citation: CMAJ. 2006 Oct 10;175(8):889-94
references.pmid: 17030939
references.citation: Med Educ. 2006 Mar;40(3):202-11
references.pmid: 16483322
references.citation: BMC Fam Pract. 2009 Nov 28;10:74
references.pmid: 19943953
references.citation: Int J Qual Health Care. 2012 Oct;24(5):476-82
references.pmid: 22778146
references.citation: Australas Psychiatry. 2009 Feb;17(1):19-24
references.pmid: 18608158
references.citation: J Am Board Fam Med. 2012 Mar;25 Suppl 1:S34-8
references.pmid: 22403249
references.citation: Cerebrovasc Dis. 2004;18(1):16-21
references.pmid: 15159616
references.citation: JAMA. 1998 Jun 17;279(23):1889-93
references.pmid: 9634260
references.citation: N Z Med J. 2003 Oct 10;116(1183):U625
references.pmid: 14581939
references.citation: J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2003 Feb;103(2):81-8
references.pmid: 12622353
references.citation: Br J Gen Pract. 1993 Oct;43(375):413-6
references.pmid: 8260219
references.citation: J Law Med. 2010 Sep;18(1):68-75
references.pmid: 20977163
references.citation: Arch Intern Med. 2004 Mar 22;164(6):653-8
references.pmid: 15037494