[Contacts and patterns of referral in general practice. Norwegian results from an international study]

Norwegian results from the European Study of Referrals from Primary to Secondary Care are presented and partly compared with results from other countries. 33 Norwegian general practitioners registered 12,334 contacts and 926 referrals. The contacts are presented according to age and sex, and compared with those of previous Norwegian studies. 10% of the contacts were home visits and 8% resulted in a referral. Norwegian general practitioners have only 60 contacts per week, far less than the number in the other participating countries, with the former West-Germany heading the list, with 220 contacts per week. Next to patients in the United Kingdom, Norwegian patients had to wait longest for an appointment with a specialist.