Norwegian GP Consultation Trends by Age, Sex, and Diagnosis from 2012 to 2023

From 2012 to 2023, this register-based study tracks average annual general practitioner consultations per inhabitant in Norway, stratified by age, sex, and diagnosis. The data originates from the national KUHR database linked to the Population Registry, covering all residents alive in the country each year. It was authored by Bjørn-Atle Reme and published on figshare in 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyze sex-based disparities in healthcare utilization based on the reported differences in GP visit rates between women and men.
• Model age-specific trends in primary care demand based on the detailed age-group breakdowns, such as the increase among 16–19-year-old women.
• Investigate diagnosis-specific shifts in healthcare burden based on the reported changes in consultations for mental illness and heart disease.
• Benchmark national primary care utilization metrics against other countries based on the population-wide, longitudinal data.

Strengths

• Covers the entire Norwegian population alive each year, growing from 4,985,870 in 2012 to 5,488,984 in 2023.
• Provides 12 years of longitudinal data (2012–2023), enabling trend analysis.
• Includes specific, stratified results such as a 139% relative growth in mental illness consultations for 6–15-year-old girls.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is provided as PDF and DOCX files (917.8 KB total), which is a very small, likely aggregated summary rather than raw patient-level records.

Provenance

Source

Norwegian Control and Distribution of Health Reimbursement (KUHR) database, linked to the Norwegian Population Registry.

Collection Method

Register-based population-wide repeated cross-sectional study.

Time Range

2012 to 2023

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-11 23:10:02; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Norway