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Referral pattern to the allergist for hay fever in a health‐care system with open access to specialists
Author(s) -
Francillon C.,
Burnand B.,
Frei Ph.,
Duc J.,
Lantin J. P.,
Leimgruber A.,
Pécoud A.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
allergy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.363
H-Index - 173
eISSN - 1398-9995
pISSN - 0105-4538
DOI - 10.1111/j.1398-9995.1995.tb02507.x
Subject(s) - referral , hay fever , medicine , disease , family medicine , pediatrics , asthma
Little is known about referral patterns to the allergist for hay fever. In a system with open access to the specialist, we investigated the reasons for consulting an allergist in 126 patients who completed a questionnaire on their first visit. Both sexes were equally represented, the median age was 29 years, the duration of the disease and the duration of seasonal symptoms were 9 years and 10 weeks (median), respectively, and 54% of patients reported a history suggestive of asthma. The symptoms were highly variable; on average, 5.6 on a 10‐cm visual analog scale. Most of the patients (94%) had been treated for hay fever before. Only 30% were referred by another physician, the rest being self‐referred. The reasons for referral were investigated. The overall motivation to consult was related to symptom severity in 63% of the patients; 37% consulted for other reasons, including an expectation of greater “know‐how” on the part of the allergist concerning specific diagnosis, treatment, and advice or counseling. The stimulus triggering the consultation was clearly not related to symptoms or disease in 25% of the cases. We conclude from these data that many patients are clearly interested in benefiting from the professional skill of a fully trained allergist.