Main description:

This report highlights changes in general practice activity over the decade from April 2006 to March 2016 measured by the University of Sydney's BEACH program, a continuous study of general practice activity in Australia. The BEACH program closed in 2016, after 18 years of continuous data collection. Over the decade, 9,721 general practitioners (GPs) provided details of 972,100 GP-patient encounters. The report highlights changes in the characteristics of GPs and the patients they see, the problems managed and the treatments provided. Changes in prevalence of measured risk factors (overweight, obesity, smoking and at-risk alcohol use) are described for sub-samples of more than 30,000 adult patients each year. Changes in the prevalence of overweight and obesity over the decade are also described for annual sub-samples of more than 2,500 children aged 2-17 years. This report is a companion to the annual report General Practice Activity in Australia 2015-16.

Contents:

Acknowledgments
List of tables
List of figures
Summary

Introduction
Methods
The samples
The participating GPs
The encounters
The patients
Problems managed
Overview of management
Medications
Other treatments
Referrals and admissions
Investigations
Patient risk factors

References
Abbreviations
Symbols
Glossary
Appendix 1: example of a 2015-16 recording form
Appendix 2: GP characteristics questionnaire, 2015-16
Appendix 3: patient information card, 2015-16
Appendix 4: code groups from ICPC-2 and ICPC-2 PLUS