The utilization of primary healthcare services among frail older adults – findings from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study

Abstract Background The impact of frailty on primary healthcare service use, especially general practice office visits and remote contacts, is currently unknown. Further, little is known about the association of frailty with physiotherapy contacts. Methods We examined the utilization of primary healthcare services among 1064 participants from the Helsinki Birth Cohort Study between the years 2013 and 2017. Frailty was assessed based on Fried’s frailty criteria at mean age of 71.0 (2.7 SD) years in clinical examinations between the years 2011 and 2013. General practice office visits and remote contacts, the total number of general practice contacts, physiotherapy contacts, and the total numb…