Patterns of referral to the paediatric specialist clinic of a regional hospital: descriptive study.

OBJECTIVE To study the patterns of referral to a paediatric specialist out-patient clinic. DESIGN Descriptive study. SETTING Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS The 1985 referral letters of patients who were referred to the paediatric specialist clinic during 1998 were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Common referral diagnoses according to sources of referral. RESULTS The common sources of referral were maternal and child health centres (34.7%), accident and emergency departments (26.9%), the Student Health Service (12.9%), private practitioners (10.5%), and general out-patient clinics (9.8%). The common referral diagnoses from maternal and child health centres (n=689) were growth problems (37. 7%), heart murmurs (16.8%), and neonatal jaundice (10.9%). Asthma or suspected asthma constituted the majority of referrals from accident and emergency departments (227/533; 42.6%). Deviations in growth (41. 4%), problems regarding puberty (13.7%), apparent heart problems (13. 3%), and nocturnal enuresis (11.7%) were the common referral diagnoses from the Student Health Service (n=256). CONCLUSIONS Studying referral patterns from various sources is helpful in organising medical services and identifying training needs.