Control of patients in an outpatient clinic of rheumatology
Gran, J.T.; Soldal, D.; Jore, S.; Myklebust, G.
Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin Ny Raekke 122(10): 1003-1004
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 0029-2001 PMID: 12082690 Document Number: 542384
A high number of patients attending outpatient clinics of rheumatology are control cases. This study aimed at investigating the causes of such controls and how necessary they are. 400 consecutive control patients selected from a local hospital were included. Inflammatory rheumatic diseases constituted 89% of the controls; rheumatoid arthritis was the diagnosis in 28% of cases. Routine control of patients with chronic disease was the main cause of control (41%). 15% of controls were regarded as partly or completely unnecessary; 95% of these were not repeated. The reasons for controlling patients in rheumatology should be better defined. Regular evaluation could result in improved service to outpatients.