Table 3.
Details of Symptoms Provided (whether present or absent for the patient) on the Referral Letter
| Overall n = 2430 |
Systemic inflammatory n = 745 |
Osteoarthritis n = 787 |
Regional MSK n = 395 |
Chronic Pain n = 346 |
Osteoporosis/Osteopenia n = 45 |
Misc.a n = 112 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| At least 1 symptom mentioned | 92.2% | 92.6% | 95.6% | 93.4% | 92.8% | 33.3% | 83.9% |
| Anatomical Site(s) | 64.7% | 66.2% | 75.3% | 65.8% | 52.6% | 13.3% | 33.0% |
| Joint Pain | 51.1% | 52.5% | 63.5% | 50.9% | 34.7% | NR | 25.0% |
| Symptom/disease duration provided | 50.3% | 55.4% | 48.0% | 49.1% | 54.9% | 15.6% | 35.7% |
| Swollen joints | 22.6% | 34.9% | 22.1% | 16.7% | 10.7% | NR | 9.8% |
| Generalized pain | 16.6% | 15.6% | 8.8% | 12.7% | 45.7% | NR | 9.8% |
| “Arthritis” | 15.0% | 14.5% | 26.6% | 6.3% | 4.9% | NR | NR |
| Morning stiffness | 9.3% | 12.2% | 9.7% | 6.6% | 8.7% | NR | NR |
| Joint redness | 5.1% | 7.5% | 4.6% | 4.8% | 2.6% | NR | NR |
| Impaired abilities with daily living | 7.5% | 6.2% | 8.8% | 7.6% | 9.8% | NR | NR |
| Fatigue | 4.7% | 4.4% | 1.9% | NR | 16.8% | NR | NR |
| Deformed joints | 2.6% | 2.6% | 4.3% | 2.0% | NR | NR | NR |
| Impaired sleep | 2.0% | 0.8% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 4.9% | NR | NR |
Values are the percentage with the denominator being the N within each diagnosis category. Systemic Inflammatory conditions include rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory arthritis, polymyalgia rheumatica, spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, gout and other crystal arthropathies, other SARDs (lupus, scleroderma, vasculitis, Sjögren’s syndrome, dermatomyositis, polymyositis, Raynaud’s phenomenon, sarcoidosis, etc); MSK musculoskeletal, Misc miscellaneous
NR Not reportable (to protect patient privacy)
aMiscellaneous referrals such as abnormal tests