General Practice and Primary Care - Research Publications

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    Opportunities for improving hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) management in primary care settings: A review of international published guidelines in the context of pregnancy care in Indonesia
    Ekawati, FM ; Emilia, O ; Brennecke, S ; Gunn, J ; Licqurish, S ; Lau, P (Elsevier, 2020-01-01)
    Almost all of global maternal mortality caused by HDP occurs in low to middle-income countries (LMIC). However, limited guidance is available to local primary care practitioners who are usually the main health care providers. This review examined existing international practice guidelines to identify potential practices to improve HDP management in Indonesian primary care settings. We performed structured literature search strategies and snowballing searches in six databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane reviews and Google Scholar) for guidelines that were published between 2007 and 2018 using relevant keywords and phrases of ‘guidelines’, ‘hypertensive disorders of pregnancy’ or ‘preeclampsia’ and ‘primary care’. The AGREE II instrument was used to assess quality and reporting of the eligible guidelines. Thematic analysis was performed on all of the guidelines and the results were discussed among the project investigators. Sixteen international practice guidelines or similar management recommendations were reviewed. Almost all of them were partially applicable, with some managements potentially able to be adopted to Indonesian primary care settings. Three main themes for improving HDP management were identified, namely clinical management, care planning, and professional communication. These potential improvements in managing women with HDP in Indonesia may also be relevant in other LMIC. Further contextualisation is required to facilitate their adoption in practice settings.
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    Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) management pathways: results of a Delphi survey to contextualise international recommendations for Indonesian primary care settings
    Ekawati, FM ; Licqurish, S ; Gunn, J ; Brennecke, S ; Lau, P (BMC, 2021-04-01)
    BACKGROUND: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are a significant contributor to the high maternal mortality rate in Indonesia. At the moment, limited guidelines are available to assist primary care providers in managing HDP cases. A previous review of 16 international HDP guidelines has identified opportunities for improving HDP management in Indonesian primary care, but it has not determined the suitability of the recommendations in practice. This study aims to achieve consensus among the experts regarding the recommendations suitability and to develop HDP pathways in Indonesian primary care. METHODS: Maternal health experts, including GPs, midwives, nurses, medical specialists and health policy researchers from Indonesia and overseas were recruited for the study. They participated in a consensus development process that applied a mix of quantitative and qualitative questions in three Delphi survey rounds. At the first and second-round survey, the participants were asked to rate their agreement on whether each of 125 statements about HDP and HDP management is appropriate for use in Indonesian primary care settings. The third-round survey presented the drafts of HDP pathways and sought participants' agreement and further suggestions. The participants' agreement scores were calculated with a statement needing a minimum of 70% agreement to be included in the HDP pathways. The participants' responses and suggestions to the free text questions were analysed thematically. RESULTS: A total of 52 participants were included, with 48, 45 and 37 of them completing the first, second and third round of the survey respectively. Consensus was reached for 115 of the 125 statements on HDP definition, screening, management and long-term follow-up. Agreement scores for the statements ranged from 70.8-100.0%, and potential implementation barriers of the pathways were identified. Drafts of HDP management pathways were also agreed upon and received suggestions from the participants. CONCLUSIONS: Most evidence-based management recommendations achieved consensus and were included in the developed HDP management pathways, which can potentially be implemented in Indonesian settings. Further investigations are needed to explore the acceptability and feasibility of the developed HDP pathways in primary care practice.
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    Developing management pathways for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) in Indonesian primary care: a study protocol
    Ekawati, FM ; Licqurish, S ; Emilia, O ; Gunn, J ; Brennecke, S ; Lau, P (BMC, 2019-02-01)
    Background National and international guidelines for the management of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP) are available in developing countries. However, more detailed clinical pathways for primary care settings are limited. This study focuses on Indonesia, where 72% of women who died from HDP and its complications had received less appropriate treatment according to international guidelines. There is an urgent need to develop primary care focused pathways that enable general practitioners (GPs), midwives and other relevant providers to manage HDP better. Objectives This paper describes a study protocol for the development of HDP management pathways for Indonesian primary care settings. Methods This study design is informed by Implementation Science theories and consists of three phases. The exploratory phase will involve conducting semi-structured interviews with key Indonesian primary care stakeholders to explore their experiences and views on HDP management. The development phase will apply evidence from the literature review and results of the exploratory phase to develop HDP management pathways contextualised to Indonesian primary care settings. Consensus will be sought from approximately 50 experts, consist of general practitioners (GPs), midwives, obstetricians, nurses and policy makers using Delphi technique survey. The evaluation phase will involve a pilot study to evaluate the pathways’ acceptability and feasibility in a sample of Indonesian primary care practices using mixed methods. Discussion The implementation science frameworks inform and guide the phases in this study. Qualitative interviews in the exploratory phase are conducive to eliciting opinions from key stakeholders. Using Delphi technique at the development phase is suitable to seek participants’ consensus on HDP management in primary care. Observations, focus group discussions, interviews as well as analysis of patients’ medical records at the evaluation phase are expected to provide a comprehensive investigation of the implementation of the pathways in practice settings.
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    Maternal health study: a prospective cohort study of nulliparous women recruited in early pregnancy.
    Brown, SJ ; Lumley, JM ; McDonald, EA ; Krastev, AH ; Maternal Health Study collaborative group, (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2006-04-11)
    BACKGROUND: In the first year after childbirth, 94% of women experience one or more major health problems (urinary incontinence, faecal incontinence, perineal pain, back pain). Difficulties in intimate partner relationships and changes affecting sexual health are also common. The aim of this study is to investigate changes in women's health from early pregnancy until four years after the birth of a first child. METHODS/DESIGN: The Maternal Health Study is a longitudinal study designed to fill in some of the gaps in current research evidence regarding women's physical and psychological health and recovery after childbirth. A prospective pregnancy cohort of >1500 nulliparous women has been recruited in early pregnancy at six metropolitan public hospitals in Melbourne, Australia between April 2003 and December 2005. In the first phase of the study participants are being followed up at 30-32 weeks gestation in pregnancy, and at three, six, nine, 12 and 18 months postpartum using a combination of self-administered questionnaires and telephone interviews. Women consenting to extended follow-up (phase 2) will be followed up six and 12 months after any subsequent births and when their first child is four years old. Study instruments incorporate assessment of the frequency and severity of urinary and bowel symptoms, sexual health issues, perineal and abdominal pain, depression and intimate partner violence. Pregnancy and birth outcome data will be obtained by review of hospital case notes. DISCUSSION: Features of the study which distinguish it from prior research include: the capacity to identify incident cases of morbidity and clustering of health problems; a large enough sample to detect clinically important differences in maternal health outcomes associated with the method of birth; careful exposure measurement involving manual abstraction of data from medical records in order to explore mediating factors and possible causal pathways; and use of a variety of strategies to improve ascertainment of health outcomes.