Primary care and linked secondary care encounters for foot and ankle problems in children and young people: a population-based cohort study in England

Abstract

Background: secondary care interventions for foot and ankle problems in children and young people (CYP) are poorly described. We describe secondary care among CYP with foot and ankle problems in primary care across England, and explore factors associated with referrals.

Method: this was a population-based cohort study using the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Aurum primary care database and linked Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) Outpatient database. We described secondary care referrals and examined associations between independent predictors of foot problems and referrals to specialities.

Results: 346,454 CYP were eligible for linkage and 5,030 had at least one referral within 18 weeks. There were 2,935 CYP with referrals to trauma and orthopaedics, 1,314 for paediatric services, 678 for physiotherapy and 274 for diagnostic imaging. Odds for referrals were lower among younger age groups (odds ratio 1.29, 95% confidence interval 1.25 to 1.33). Those in black, Asian and other ethnic groups had lower odds of referral compared to those in the white group.

Conclusion: this analysis of linked primary care and secondary care data enhances our understanding of the care pathways for CYP with foot and ankle problems. Sociodemographic differences in secondary care referrals could be indicative of inequalities in access.

More information

Identifiers

ORCID for Catherine Bowen: orcid.org/0000-0002-7252-9515

Catalogue record

Export record

Altmetrics