The short-term health outcome of out-patient rheumatology consultations in relation to rationing: a pilot study

British Journal of Rheumatology
N P Hurst, E R McRorie

Abstract

The objectives were to test whether the short-term health outcome of rheumatology out-patients differs according to clinical priority. The setting was an NHS regional rheumatology out-patient department serving a catchment population of over 1 million. The subjects were 249 consecutive rheumatology out-patients categorized on the basis of the referral letter as 'urgent' (n = 50), 'soon' (n = 100) or 'routine' (n = 99). Primary outcome measures were the proportion of patients reporting improvement in health categorized by clinical priority (urgent, soon or routine) or main diagnostic group (inflammatory or non-inflammatory disease). Secondary outcome was change in health status measured using the EuroQol generic health instrument (EQ-5D). Small but insignificant differences in the proportion of patients reporting health improvement were found between the urgent (28%), soon (23%) and routine (17%) categories (Kruskal-Wallis, P = 0.186). Thirty per cent of patients with inflammatory joint disease reported improvement compared with 17% of those with non-inflammatory conditions (Mann-Whitney U, P = 0.019). In patients reporting improvement, the median (interquartile range) improvement in EQ-5D health utility score was +0.2 (0.58) (P...Continue Reading

Citations

May 4, 2007·Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology·A G KvalvikH M Høyeraal
Apr 3, 2019·The Journal of Rheumatology·Nasimah MaricarTerence W O'Neill
Apr 6, 2000·Current Opinion in Rheumatology·M M Ward

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