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Neuropathic pain in a primary care electronic health record database
Author(s) -
Shadd J.D.,
Ryan B.L.,
Maddocks H.L.,
McKay S.D.,
Moulin D.E.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
european journal of pain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.305
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1532-2149
pISSN - 1090-3801
DOI - 10.1002/ejp.594
Subject(s) - medicine , cohort , medical prescription , electronic health record , diagnosis code , primary care , database , retrospective cohort study , population , health care , medical record , cohort study , pediatrics , family medicine , computer science , environmental health , economics , pharmacology , economic growth
Abstract Background Neuropathic pain ( NP ) is common in the adult population but is difficult to study in electronic health record ( EHR ) databases because it is a symptom rather than a pathologic diagnosis. The first step in studying NP in EHR databases is to develop methods for identifying patients with NP . The objectives of this study were to develop estimates of the prevalence of NP among patients in a primary care EHR database and describe these patients’ demographic characteristics and health‐care utilization. Methods This was a retrospective cohort study of de‐identified data from a 5‐year period (2005–2010) from 23 general practitioners ( GPs ) in 10 primary care practices in southwestern O ntario, C anada. International Classification of Diseases version 9 ( ICD ‐9) diagnostic codes and medication prescriptions were used to identify patients with certain and probable NP . Results Different methods produced prevalence estimates ranging from 1.5% (for certain NP in the epidemiologically rigorous period cohort) to 11.2% (for certain NP + probable NP in the more inclusive database cohort). Patients in the NP groups had more GP visits, specialist referrals and analgesic prescriptions than patients without NP . Conclusion This study represents a step towards being able to utilize EHR databases to study NP by proposing methods to identify patients with certain and probable NP in a primary care EHR database. Validation against a gold standard is the next step.