ArticleJournal of accident & emergency medicine1997
Characteristics of self referred patients attending minor injury units.
Article in Journal of accident & emergency medicine, 1997. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Walk-in centres in primary care: a review of the international literature.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2003Pooled it
- Understanding healthcare self-referral in Nigeria from the service users' perspective: a qualitative study of Niger state.BMC health services research · 2019Article
- Patients seeking care during acute illness. Why do they not see their regular physicians?Canadian family physician Medecin de famille canadien · 2003Article
- Minor injuries units.Journal of accident & emergency medicine · 1999Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo examine the characteristics, expectations, and use of health services of patients who self refer to minor injury units (MIUs).
designPreconsultation questionnaire administered to self referred patients attending with new problems.
settingTwo MIUs in south Kent. MAIN
resultsOf 312 self referred patients, 265 (84.9%) presented with minor injuries and 47 (15.1%) with illnesses. In most cases the illness/injury was of recent origin: 119 (38.1%) said it was of less than six hours' duration and 115 (27.6%) between 6 and 24 hours' duration. Most (214; 68.6%) came from home, and for 268 (85.9%) it took 10 min or less to get to the MIU. 79 patients (25.3%) had used the MIU on on e to two occasions in the previous year, and 21 (6.7%) had used it on three or more occasions. In the same period, 44 (14.1%) had attended on accident and emergency (A&E) department on one to two occasions, and 17 (5.4%) has used A&E on three or more occasions, while 108 (34.6%) had been to a general practitioner on one to two occasions, and 144 (46.1%) on three or more occasions. If there had been no MIU available, 151 patients (48.4%) said they would have attended an A&E department, and 91 (29.4%) said they would have attended their general practitioner. The remainder would have self treated or were unsure.
conclusionsWhile the availability of an intermediate tier of care appears to result in greater overall workload for the health service, this must be balanced against the clinical and social costs involved in different patterns of service provision. The cost-effectiveness of these services need further study.
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