The Reported Frequency of FP Visits and Family Difficulties Should Alert FPs and Help Them to Prevent Severe Outcomes in Multimorbid Outpatients

Method: Family Physicians included a random sample of multimorbid patients who attended appointments in their offices from July to December 2014. Inclusion criteria were those of the EGPRN definition of Multimorbidity. Exclusion criteria were patients under legal protection and those unable to complete the 2-year follow-up. Decompensation was defined as the occurrence of death or hospitalization for more than seven days. Statistical analysis was undertaken with uni- and multivariate analysis at a 6-month follow-up using a combination of approaches including both automatic classification and expert decision making. A Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) confirmed results consistency and completed the process with a projection of illustrative variables. A logistic regression was finally performed in order to identify and quantify risk factors for decompensation.

Inclusion criteria

• Inclusion criteria were patients meeting the criteria for the definition of multimorbidity according to the EGPRN definition: any combination of chronic disease with at least one other disease (acute or chronic) or a bio psychosocial factor (associated or not) or a somatic risk factor.

Exclusion criteria

• Exclusion criteria were patients not meeting the criteria of the definition of multimorbidity, the inability to follow the study over time (known to be leaving the practice in the following months), patients under legal protection, outpatients in palliative care for whom survival was estimated by the FPs at less than three months.