Article

Primary Care Triage is a patient sorting system used in some primary
health care clinics (PHCCs) in Sweden where patients with musculoskeletal
disorders (MSD) are triaged directly to physiotherapists.
The purpose of this
study was to investigate whether sorting/triaging patients seeking a PHCC for MSD
directly to physiotherapists affects their utilization of medical services at the
clinic for the MSD and to determine whether the effects of the triaging system
vary for different sub-groups of patients. METHODS: A retrospective case-control
study design was used at two PHCCs. At the intervention clinic, 656 patients with
MSD were initially triaged to physiotherapists. At the control clinic, 1673
patients were initially assessed by general practitioners (GPs). The main outcome
measures were the number of patients continuing to visit GPs after the initial
assessment, the number of patients receiving referrals to specialists/external
examinations, doctors' notes for sick-leave or prescriptions for analgesics
during one year, all for the original MSD. RESULTS: Significantly fewer patients
triaged to physiotherapists required multiple GP visits for the MSD or received
MSD-related referrals to specialists/external examinations, sick-leave
recommendations or prescriptions during the following year compared to the
GP-assessed group. This applies to all sub-groups except for the group with lower
extremity disorders, which did not reach significance for either multiple GP
visits or sick-leave recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: The reduced utilization of medical services by patients with MSD who were triaged to physiotherapists at a
PHCC is likely due to altered management of MSD with initial assessment by
physiotherapists.

Langue : ANGLAIS