The impact of tinnitus on Dutch general practices: A retrospective study using routine healthcare data.

Autor: Bes JM; Nivel, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands., Verheij RA; Nivel, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.; Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences TSB: Tranzo, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands.; The National Health Care Institute, Diemen, The Netherlands., Knottnerus BJ; Nivel, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands., Hek K; Nivel, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: PloS one [PLoS One] 2024 Nov 15; Vol. 19 (11), pp. e0313630. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Nov 15 (Print Publication: 2024).
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313630
Abstrakt: Purpose: Global prevalence of tinnitus (15%) is rising, indicating an increase in patients seeking help for this common symptom and potentially affecting the accessibility of care. The aim of this retrospective study is twofold; describing the morbidity trends and healthcare utilization among patients with recorded tinnitus at Dutch general practices (GP), and comparing overall healthcare utilization before and after tinnitus to similar patients without recorded tinnitus.
Patients and Methods: Routine electronic health records data from general practices participating in Nivel Primary Care Database were used to describe trends in age- and sex-specific incidence, contact prevalence and healthcare utilization (contacts, prescriptions, and referrals to secondary care) for tinnitus from 2012 to 2021. Patients with tinnitus were matched (on sex, age, general practice) to patients without tinnitus (1:2). Healthcare use one year before and after a first GP contact for tinnitus (period) was analyzed with negative binominal (number of contacts) and logistic regression (prescriptions or referrals).
Results: Between 2012 and 2021, tinnitus incidence increased by 33% (3.3 to 4.4 per 1000 person-years). The largest increase was observed among 20-44-years (2.6 to 3.8 per 1000 person-years). One year after the first GP contact for tinnitus, patients with tinnitus utilized healthcare more frequently than patients without tinnitus. The referral rate increased the most (OR 1.99, 95%CI 1.83-2.16). The year before tinnitus at the GP, patients with tinnitus had more often GP consultations (IRR 1.16, 95%CI 1.12-1.19) and referrals (OR 1.09, 95%CI 1.01-1.18) than patients without tinnitus.
Conclusion: Although GPs saw an increased number of patients with tinnitus, absolute numbers of patients remained low. Patients' healthcare use increased after the first tinnitus complaint at the GP, mainly for secondary care. Yet, they already used healthcare services more frequently than similar patients without tinnitus. Insight into possible explanations for these health disparities could contribute to targeted prevention.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
(Copyright: © 2024 Bes et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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