Table 4: Wait time from date of referral to rheumatologist consultation.
| Diagnosis | No. of patients | No. (%) seen by rheumatologist within: | Wait time, d, median (IQR) | Wait time percentile, d* | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 wk | 6 wk | 3 mo | 6 mo | 9 mo | 12 mo | 50th | 90th | |||
| All patients | 2430 | 579 (23.8) | 846 (34.8) | 1414 (58.2) | 1839 (75.7) | 1963 (80.8) | 2015 (82.9) | 74 (27-101) | 57 | 170 |
| Osteoarthritis | 787 | 168 (21.3) | 249 (31.6) | 454 (57.7) | 601 (76.4) | 640 (81.3) | 661 (84.0) | 73 (30-103) | 62 | 174 |
| Systemic inflammatory rheumatic disease | 745 | 242 (32.5) | 333 (44.7) | 496 (66.6) | 597 (80.1) | 629 (84.4) | 643 (86.3) | 66 (18-84) | 43 | 155 |
| Rheumatoid arthritis | 120 | 46 (38.3)† | 57 (47.5) | 85 (70.8) | 95 (79.2) | 101 (84.2) | 104 (86.7) | 66 (15-81) | 37 | 166 |
| Inflammatory arthritis, other | 167 | 59 (35.3)† | 85 (50.9) | 117 (70.1) | 133 (79.6) | 139 (83.2) | 143 (85.6) | 55 (17-71) | 38 | 128 |
| Crystal arthropathy | 122 | 33 (27.0) | 51 (41.8) | 78 (63.9) | 101 (82.8) | 107 (87.7) | 108 (88.5) | 69 (24-93) | 52 | 156 |
| Spondylitis/ spondyloarthropathy |
76 | 17 (22.4) | 24 (31.6) | 48 (63.2)† | 63 (82.9) | 65 (85.5) | 65 (85.5) | 62 (29-91) | 58 | 146 |
| Psoriatic arthritis | 44 | 11 (25.0) | 15 (34.1)† | 26 (59.1) | 38 (86.4) | 42 (95.4) | 43 (97.7) | 88 (30-117) | 56 | 189 |
| Polymyalgia rheumatica | 66 | 31 (47.0) | 36 (54.5) | 47 (71.2) | 54 (81.8) | 57 (86.4) | 58 (87.9) | 53 (11-64) | 27 | 131 |
| Vasculitis | 19 | 10 (52.6) | 12 (63.2) | 14 (73.7) | 14 (73.7) | 15 (78.9) | 15 (78.9) | 28 (11-39) | 16 | 71 |
| Other systemic autoimmune rheumatic disease | 131 | 35 (26.7) | 53 (40.5) | 81 (61.8) | 99 (75.6) | 103 (78.6) | 107 (81.7) | 62 (22-83) | 46 | 137 |
| Regional musculoskeletal syndrome | 395 | 99 (25.1) | 145 (36.7) | 240 (60.8) | 307 (77.7) | 323 (81.8) | 330 (83.5) | 68 (26-94) | 53 | 152 |
| Chronic pain condition | 346 | 51 (14.7) | 88 (25.4) | 161 (46.5) | 236 (68.2) | 263 (76.0) | 271 (78.3) | 90 (35-125) | 72 | 204 |
| Osteoporosis | 45 | NR‡ | NR‡ | 9 (20.0) | 24 (53.3) | 28 (62.2) | 28 (62.2) | 82 (74-156) | 118 | 183 |
| Other | 112 | 16 (14.3) | 27 (24.1) | 54 (48.2) | 74 (66.1) | 80 (71.4) | 82 (73.2) | 69 (40-110) | 69 | 175 |
Note: IQR = interquartile range, NR = not reportable.
*The 50th percentile reflects that 50% of the patients had seen a rheumatologist within this time frame and 50% were still waiting; the 90th percentile reflects that 90% of patients had seen a rheumatologist within this time frame and 10% were still waiting.
†Benchmark target = 100%.
‡Suppressed to protect privacy.