Management of children with non-acute abdominal pain and diarrhea in Dutch primary care:a retrospective cohort study based on a routine primary care database (AHON)

Objective: To describe the testing, prescription, referral, and follow-up management by general practitioners (GPs) for children presenting with non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea in primary care. Design: Retrospective cohort study with one-year follow-up. Setting: Registry data from a Dutch primary care database (AHON) between 2015 and 2019. Subjects: Children aged 4–18 years old who presented by face-to-face consultation in primary care for non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea (>7 days). Main outcome measures: We recorded the proportions of children who received (1) diagnostic t... Mehr ...

Verfasser: Ansems, Sophie M.
Berger, Marjolein Y.
Pieterse, Elaine
Nanne, Sjaantje
Beugel, Gina G.
Couwenberg, Ria P.E.
Holtman, Gea A.
Dokumenttyp: Artikel
Erscheinungsdatum: 2023
Reihe/Periodikum: Ansems , S M , Berger , M Y , Pieterse , E , Nanne , S , Beugel , G G , Couwenberg , R P E & Holtman , G A 2023 , ' Management of children with non-acute abdominal pain and diarrhea in Dutch primary care : a retrospective cohort study based on a routine primary care database (AHON) ' , Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care , vol. 41 , no. 3 , pp. 267-275 . https://doi.org/10.1080/02813432.2023.2231054
Schlagwörter: abdominal pain / children / diarrhea / functional disorders / General practice
Sprache: Englisch
Permalink: https://search.fid-benelux.de/Record/base-27058814
Datenquelle: BASE; Originalkatalog
Powered By: BASE
Link(s) : https://hdl.handle.net/11370/6df22476-e69b-4788-bb2e-363e50f344d9

Objective: To describe the testing, prescription, referral, and follow-up management by general practitioners (GPs) for children presenting with non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea in primary care. Design: Retrospective cohort study with one-year follow-up. Setting: Registry data from a Dutch primary care database (AHON) between 2015 and 2019. Subjects: Children aged 4–18 years old who presented by face-to-face consultation in primary care for non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea (>7 days). Main outcome measures: We recorded the proportions of children who received (1) diagnostic testing, medicine prescriptions, follow-up consultations, and referrals at their first visit and (2) repeat consultations and referrals by one-year of follow-up. Results: Among the 2200 children (median age, 10.5 years; interquartile range, 7.0–14.6) presenting to a GP with non-acute abdominal pain and/or diarrhea, most reported abdominal pain (78.7%). At the first visit, GPs performed diagnostic testing for 32.2%, provided a prescription to 34.5%, and referred 2.5% to secondary care. Twenty-five percent of the children had a follow-up consultation within four weeks and 20.8% had a repeat consultation between four weeks and one year. Thirteen percent of the children were referred to secondary care by one year. However, only 1% of all children had documentation of an organic diagnosis needing management in secondary care. Conclusion: One-third of children received diagnostic testing or a medicine prescription. Few had a follow-up consultation and >10% was referred to pediatric care. Future research should explore the motivations of GPs why and which children receive diagnostic and medical interventions.