Analysis of definitions of general practice, family medicine, and primary health care: A terminological analysis

BackgroundThere are numerous definitions of General Practice and Family Medicine (GP/FM) and Primary Health Care (PHC), but the distinction between the two concepts is unclear. AimTo conduct a terminological analysis of a set of definitions of GP/FM and of PHC, to clarify what binds and what distinguishes these two concepts. DesignThe terms of 20 definitions were collected in two bags of words (one for GP/FM and one for PHC terms). A terminological analysis of these two bags of words was performed to prioritize the terms and analyze their world of reference.MethodsThe two collected bags of words were extracted with Vocabgrabber®, configured in two term clouds using Wordle®, and further explored for similarities using Tropes®. The prioritized terms were analyzed using the Aristotelian approach to categorization of things. ResultsAlthough continuity of care (with person-centered approach and shared decision making) is the central issue of the two sets, the two sets of definitions differ greatly in content. The prioritized terms specific to GP/FM (community, medicine, responsibility, individual, problem, needs, etc.) are different from prioritized terms specific to PHC (home, team, promotion, collaborator, engagement, neighborhood, medical center, etc.).ConclusionTerminological analysis of the definitions for GP/FM and PHC shows two entities which are overlapping but distinct, necessitating a different taxonomic approach and different bibliographic search strategies.