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Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique logoLink to Canadian Journal of Public Health = Revue Canadienne de Santé Publique
. 2001 Jul 1;92(4):299–303. doi: 10.1007/BF03404965

Characteristics of Patients with a Regular Source of Care

Verena H Menec 1,✉, Noralou P Roos 1, Charlyn Black 1, Bogdan Bogdanovic 1
PMCID: PMC6980030  PMID: 11962117

Abstract

This study was designed to describe patient characteristics associated with having a regular source of care among all patients who received care from large urban clinics in Manitoba over a three-year period (N = 298,222). Using administrative data, patients were classified as having a regular source of care if they made 75% or more of their total ambulatory visits to the same clinic. Overall, 44.2% of patients had a regular source of care. A logistic regression showed that children and adults aged 45 and older were more likely to have a regular source of care than patients aged 18–44. Moreover, patients with a regular source of care tended to live in more affluent neighbourhoods and were healthier than individuals with no regular source of care. Systemic changes might be needed to enhance continuity of care (e.g., mechanisms to enhance access) among vulnerable segments of the population like the poor.

Footnotes

Dr. Menec holds a New Investigator Career award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Dr. Roos is an Associate of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and Dr. Black is a Career Scientist with the Medical Research Council.

This research resulted from a project undertaken for Manitoba Health by the Manitoba Centre for Health Policy and Evaluation. The project was funded by Manitoba Health. The results and conclusions are those of the authors, and no official endorsement by Manitoba Health is intended or should be inferred.

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