Characteristics of primary care practices by proportion of patients unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2: a cross-sectional cohort study.

BACKGROUND

Variations in primary care practices may explain some differences in health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic. We sought to evaluate the characteristics of primary care practices by the proportion of patients unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2.

METHODS

We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional cohort study using linked administrative data sets in Ontario, Canada. We calculated the percentage of patients unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 enrolled with each comprehensive-care family physician, ranked physicians according to the proportion of patients unvaccinated, and identified physicians in the top 10% (v. the other 90%). We compared characteristics of family physicians and their patients in these 2 groups using standardized differences.

RESULTS

We analyzed 9060 family physicians with 10 837 909 enrolled patients. Family physicians with the largest proportion (top 10%) of unvaccinated patients (

INTERPRETATION

Primary care practices with the largest proportion of patients unvaccinated against SARS-CoV-2 served marginalized communities and were less likely to use team-based care models. These findings can guide resource planning and help tailor interventions to integrate public health priorities within primary care practices.

Informations de copyright

© 2024 CMA Impact Inc. or its licensors.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Competing interests:: Michael Green reports research support from the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). He is president and board chair of the College of Family Physicians of Canada and sits on the board of AMS Healthcare. Tara Kiran reports honoraria from the Ontario College of Family Physicians, the Ontario Medical Association, the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian College of Family Physicians, and the Association of Family Health Teams of Ontario. Mina Tadrous reports consulting fees from the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health and Health Canada. Dominik Nowak reports consulting fees from the Alliance for Healthier Communities, the Centre for Effective Practice, the Ontario College of Family Physicians, the Ontario Medical Association, TELUS, and Women’s College Hospital. He is president-elect of the Ontario Medical Association. Holly Witteman is supported by a Canada Research Chair and reports an honorarium from Stanford University. Isaac Bogoch reports research funding from CIHR and consulting fees from the Weapons Threat Reduction Program. David Kaplan reports travel support from the Public Health Agency of Canada; he is chair of the Post–COVID-19 Condition guideline advisory committee and sits on the board of directors with the Musical Stage Company. No other competing interests were declared.