Biomaterial Database

A local review of domiciliary consultations. 1993

K Mackay

Department of Public Health Medicine, Lothian Health Board, Edinburgh.

This report examines the trends and patterns of domiciliary consultations within Lothian Health Board area. Lothian Health Board is the second largest health board in Scotland. It is a teaching board with a mixed urban and rural population of 750,000. This is a retrospective study of data on domiciliary consultations from the Information and Statistic Division of the Common Services agency for the years 1986 to 1991. Comparison of total figures nationally and locally and an examination of numbers of visits among specialties within the health board area. Between 1986 and 1991 the total number of domiciliary consultations in Scotland dropped by 27%. During the same period the average rate for three of the four Scottish teaching boards fell by 32% while for Lothian it fell by 20%. Average teaching board figures dropped consistently each year but Lothian figures showed more fluctuation, in particular, a drop of 20% between 1990 and 1991. The large drop in domiciliary visits was reflected in two of the three main specialties for the same period.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008511	Medicine	The art and science of studying, performing research on, preventing, diagnosing, and treating disease, as well as the maintenance of health.	Insurance Medicine,Medical Specialities,Medical Specialties,Medical Specialty,Specialities, Medical,Specialties, Medical,Specialty, Medical,Insurance Medicines,Medical Speciality,Medicine, Insurance,Medicines, Insurance,Speciality, Medical
D012017	Referral and Consultation	The practice of sending a patient to another program or practitioner for services or advice which the referring source is not prepared to provide.	Consultation,Gatekeepers, Health Service,Hospital Referral,Second Opinion,Consultation and Referral,Health Service Gatekeepers,Hospital Referrals,Referral,Referral, Hospital,Referrals, Hospital,Consultations,Gatekeeper, Health Service,Health Service Gatekeeper,Opinion, Second,Opinions, Second,Referrals,Second Opinions
D006302	Health Services Research	The integration of epidemiologic, sociological, economic, and other analytic sciences in the study of health services. Health services research is usually concerned with relationships between need, demand, supply, use, and outcome of health services. The aim of the research is evaluation, particularly in terms of structure, process, output, and outcome. (From Last, Dictionary of Epidemiology, 2d ed)	Health Care Research,Medical Care Research,Research, Health Services,Action Research,Health Services Evaluation,Healthcare Research,Research, Medical Care,Evaluation, Health Services,Evaluations, Health Services,Health Services Evaluations,Research, Action,Research, Health Care,Research, Healthcare
D006792	House Calls	Visits to the patient's home by professional personnel for the purpose of diagnosis and/or treatment.	Home Visits,Call, House,Calls, House,Home Visit,House Call,Visit, Home,Visits, Home
D012189	Retrospective Studies	Studies used to test etiologic hypotheses in which inferences about an exposure to putative causal factors are derived from data relating to characteristics of persons under study or to events or experiences in their past. The essential feature is that some of the persons under study have the disease or outcome of interest and their characteristics are compared with those of unaffected persons.	Retrospective Study,Studies, Retrospective,Study, Retrospective
D012606	Scotland	The most northerly of the four countries of the United Kingdom, occupying about one-third of the island of Great Britain. The capital is Edinburgh.
D013038	Specialization	An occupation limited in scope to a subsection of a broader field.	Specialism,Specialists,Specialist