Citation

Vehviläinen AT, Kumpusalo EA, Takala JK. Scand. J. Public Health 1999; 27(2): 143-147.

Affiliation

Department of Community Health and General Practice, University of Kuopio, Finland. Arto.Vehvilainen@uku.fi

Copyright

(Copyright © 1999, Associations of Public Health in the Nordic Countries Regions, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

10421724

Abstract

This study examined the reasons for referral of patients from general practice to health centre hospitals in central and northern Finland during one week in 1994. Participants were 806 general practitioners (GPs) from public health centres. Outcome measures were reasons for referral by ICPC codes, with respect to characteristics of patients, GPs, and practices. A total of 723 patients (1.4%) were referred from 53,633 consultations. Most referrals (532, 74%) were from out of hours consultations. The most commonly reported reasons for referral in the age group under 65 years were alcohol abuse for males and vertigo for females. For patients aged 65 or over, angina pectoris was the most common reason for referral for both male and female patients. Our results will be useful in developing primary healthcare and the training of GPs. Future research should focus on alcohol-related diseases in those patients referred to health centre hospitals.

Language: en