Dataset Information

Measuring disease prevalence: a comparison of musculoskeletal disease using four general practice consultation databases.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Primary care consultation data are an important source of information on morbidity prevalence. It is not known how reliable such figures are.

Aim

To compare annual consultation prevalence estimates for musculoskeletal conditions derived from four general practice consultation databases.

Design of study

Retrospective study of general practice consultation records.

Setting

Three national general practice consultation databases: i) Fourth Morbidity Statistics from General Practice (MSGP4, 1991/92), ii) Royal College of General Practitioners Weekly Returns Service (RCGP WRS, 2001), and iii) General Practice Research Database (GPRD, 1991 and 2001); and one regional database (Consultations in Primary Care Archive, 2001).

Method

Age-sex standardized persons consulting annual prevalence rates for musculoskeletal conditions overall, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and arthralgia were derived for patients aged 15 years and over.

Results

GPRD prevalence of any musculoskeletal condition, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis was lower than that of the other databases. This is likely to be due to GPs not needing to record every consultation made for a chronic condition. MSGP4 gave the highest prevalence for osteoarthritis but low prevalence of arthralgia which reflects encouragement for GPs to use diagnostic rather than symptom codes.

Conclusion

Considerable variation exists in consultation prevalence estimates for musculoskeletal conditions. Researchers and health service planners should be aware that estimates of disease occurrence based on consultation will be influenced by choice of database. This is likely to be true for other chronic diseases and where alternative symptom labels exist for a disease. RCGP WRS may give the most reliable prevalence figures for musculoskeletal and other chronic diseases.

SUBMITTER: Jordan K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2032694 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Measuring disease prevalence: a comparison of musculoskeletal disease using four general practice consultation databases.

Jordan Kelvin K Clarke Alexandra M AM Symmons Deborah P M DP Fleming Douglas D Porcheret Mark M Kadam Umesh T UT Croft Peter P

The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 20070101 534

<h4>Background</h4>Primary care consultation data are an important source of information on morbidity prevalence. It is not known how reliable such figures are.<h4>Aim</h4>To compare annual consultation prevalence estimates for musculoskeletal conditions derived from four general practice consultation databases.<h4>Design of study</h4>Retrospective study of general practice consultation records.<h4>Setting</h4>Three national general practice consultation databases: i) Fourth Morbidity Statistics ...[more]

PMID: 17244418

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Overweight in children is a rising problem leading to serious consequences later in life. The Dutch guideline 'Obesity' for general practitioners recommends discussing obesity in children regardless of the reason of consultation and provides diagnostic and therapeutic tools. However, limited literature indicates that general practitioners experience barriers to discuss this topic. The aim of this study was to determine current perceived barriers of general practitioners in discussing overweight during a regular consultation in children aged 4 to 12?years and to what extent they discuss the topic. Furthermore, we attempt to get more insight in the specific needs and ideas for improvement among GPs. METHODS:A semi-structured in-depth interview study was conducted. Dutch general practitioners with a broad range of demographic characteristics were invited to participate. The transcripts were analysed using a modified version of the constant comparative method. Using this method, we identified perceived barriers of general practitioners. RESULTS:Ten general practitioners were included in the study. Four major themes were identified in the interviews: absence of physical or mental complaints related to overweight, internal barriers of the general practitioners, the child's family background and logistics. Major barriers appeared to be a low consultation rate of these children, the sensitivity of the topic (e.g. fear for children's or parents' reactions and/or disturbance of the relation, influence on the self-esteem of the child, resistance in the parents), the absence of a long-standing relation between general practitioner and child or parent, the background of the child and lack of time or prioritizing. CONCLUSION:Dutch general practitioners indicate to experience barriers and need tools for how to discuss children's overweight during regular consultations within the limited time available. The low consultation rate among children aged 4 to 12?years due to lack of physical complaints is mentioned as a new and important barrier. Therefore, the prior focus might be raising awareness among parents concerning overweight in children aged 4 to 12?years and, thereby, stressing the potential supporting role of primary care professionals in tackling the overweight of their child.

Dataset Information

Measuring disease prevalence: a comparison of musculoskeletal disease using four general practice consultation databases.

Background

Aim

Design of study

Setting

Method

Results

Conclusion

Publications

Measuring disease prevalence: a comparison of musculoskeletal disease using four general practice consultation databases.

Similar Datasets

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