ArticleBMJ open2024
Profile and healthcare utilisation patterns of adolescent frequent attenders in Singapore primary care: a retrospective study.
Article in BMJ open, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed.
- Healthcare utilisation patterns for paediatric functional somatic symptom presentation: a 3-year retrospective analysis.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of somatic symptoms among adolescents in Singapore: a cross-sectional study.Annals of general psychiatry · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesFrequent attenders (FAs) visit healthcare settings at higher rates compared with the general population and use disproportionate amounts of healthcare resources. Frequent attendance (FA) has also been associated with greater morbidity and adverse socioeconomic circumstances. Our study aimed to describe the sociodemographic profile, clinical presentation, and healthcare utilisation patterns of adolescent FAs at polyclinics in Singapore and to determine the factors associated with adolescent FA.
designRetrospective electronic database analysis.
settingA cluster of eight state-subsidised public primary care clinics (polyclinics).
participantsMultiethnic Asian adolescents aged 10-19 years who attended the eight polyclinics in 2021. FAs were defined as the top 10% of clinic attendees in terms of annual visit frequency.
resultsIn 2021, 34 645 adolescents attended the polyclinics for 75 902 visits. Visits were for acute (52.8%), chronic (26.2%) and preventive (27.7%) care. FAs attended ≥4 visits annually, accounting for 14.4% of adolescents and 42.5% of total attendances. Compared with non-FAs, FAs were older (OR 1.16, 95% CI 1.15 to 1.18, p<0.001), more likely to be of non-Chinese ethnicity, and have received financial aid (OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.58 to 1.79, p<0.001). FAs had more underlying psychiatric conditions (p<0.001) but presented less frequently with psychiatric complaints (p<0.001). FAs were more likely to be referred to emergency departments (p<0.001) and psychiatry clinics (p<0.001), to be prescribed potentially addictive medication (p<0.001), and had longer annual medical leave certification (7 days (IQR=4-11) vs 3 days (IQR=1-3, p<0.001)).
conclusionAdolescent FA was associated with increasing age, non-Chinese ethnicity and lower socioeconomic status. Despite having more underlying psychiatric conditions, adolescent FAs presented more frequently with acute physical complaints instead of psychiatric symptoms. Adolescent FAs had longer annual medical leave certification and greater healthcare utilisation indicated by more clinic visits and referrals to emergency departments and psychiatry clinics.
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