This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.

Skin problems, osteoarthritis top reasons patients sought nonacute health care

Skin disorders, followed by osteoarthritis and back pain, were the primary reason patients visited health care providers for nonacute conditions, according to study results.

Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., used the Rochester Epidemiology Project (REP) medical records linkage system to review the records of 142,377 patients (53% female) in Olmsted County, Minn., on April 1, 2009. All ICD-9 codes noted in patients’ records between 2005 and 2009 were electronically extracted. The codes were grouped by clinical classification and then assigned to 47 more diverse disease groups linked with health-related quality of life.

 

Jennifer L. St. Sauver

The most prevalent disease groups were:

• skin disorders (42.7%)
• osteoarthritis and joint disorders (33.6%)
• back problems (23.9%)
• lipid metabolism disorders (22.4%)
• upper respiratory tract disease (22.1%, excluding asthma)

In patients aged 0 to 18 years, skin disorders were the most common condition, followed by upper respiratory tract disease, osteoarthritis and joint disorders. In patients aged 65 years and older, hypertension was the most prevalent disease, followed by lipid metabolism disorders and skin disorders.

Ten of the 15 most prevalent disease groups were more common across all ages among women; men showed higher prevalence for lipid metabolism, hypertension and diabetes disorders. Ethnic groups displayed varied prevalence.

“Unexpectedly, almost half of the … population of all ages received a diagnosis of skin disorders within approximately 5 years,” the researchers reported. “The skin disorders category was broad and included 19 different ICD-9 groupings (including actinic keratosis, acne and sebaceous cysts). No single skin disorder was highly prevalent.”

The findings present an opportunity to determine why skin-related diagnoses result in so many visits and if alternative care delivery approaches requiring fewer visits are possible, researcher Jennifer L. St. Sauver, PhD, at the Mayo Clinic Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, said in a news release.