The Negative Binomial Model and the Denominator Problem in a Rural Family Practice

Much accurate health services and epidemiologic research in primary care is impeded by an inability to determine or estimate practice size in many countries. While the number of patients attending a practice is known, the number of non-attending members is not. Much of the work aimed at solving the denominator problem has focused on mathematical models for estimating the non-attenders. Of these, the negative binomial distribution of illness …