Care Pathways for Asthmatic Children in Denmark
Author Information
Author(s): Moth Grete, Schiotz Peter O, Vedsted Peter
Primary Institution: Danish Paediatric Asthma Centre, Aarhus University Hospital
Hypothesis
The study aims to analyze associations between care providers and adherence to asthma treatment guidelines.
Conclusion
Hospital specialists provided care in accordance with guidelines nine times more often compared to GPs, but still only one quarter of these children had pathways in accordance with guidelines.
Supporting Evidence
- 70.3% of children were seen only by their GP.
- 34.2% of children had no registered asthma-related contacts except for prescriptions.
- Care was in accordance with guidelines in only 7% of cases.
Takeaway
This study looked at how well doctors followed asthma treatment guidelines for kids in Denmark, finding that kids who saw specialists got better care than those who only saw their regular doctors.
Methodology
A cohort study using data from five national registries to analyze the care pathways of 36,940 asthmatic children.
Potential Biases
Potential selection bias due to the method of identifying asthmatic children and the reliance on lung function tests as a proxy for care.
Limitations
The method to identify asthmatic children may introduce selection bias, and the study may have underestimated the number of visits to GPs.
Participant Demographics
{"gender_distribution":{"boys":22480,"girls":14460},"age_distribution":{"6-8_years":18025,"9-11_years":14174,"12-13_years":4741},"family_structure":{"two_parent_family":30120,"single_parent_family":6662}}
Statistical Information
P-Value
p<0.05
Statistical Significance
p<0.05
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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