Patterns of Health Service Use Among Young People With Cerebral Palsy in England

Jennifer M. Ryan; Grace Lavelle; Nicola Theis; Cherry Kilbride; Marika Noorkoiv

doi:10.3389/fneur.2021.659031

Patterns of Health Service Use Among Young People With Cerebral Palsy in England

Jennifer M. Ryan, Grace Lavelle, Nicola Theis, Cherry Kilbride^*, Marika Noorkoiv

^*Corresponding author for this work

Psychological Medicine

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

7 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: Although the provision of healthcare for people with cerebral palsy (CP) is typically focussed on childhood, many people with CP require access to services periodically throughout their life. Few studies have examined patterns of health service use among young people with CP in England. Understanding patterns of use may inform future service development. Objective: To describe patterns of visits to rehabilitation and medical professionals among ambulatory young people with CP living in England, and identify factors associated with service use. Methods: Sixty-two young people with CP aged 10–19 years [mean (SD) age 13.7 (2.5) years] in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I-III reported visits to a range of health professionals, hospital admissions and visits to the emergency department over a median duration of 34 weeks (min–max: 12–34 weeks). Negative binomial models were used to examine factors associated with number of visits. Results: Physiotherapists were the most commonly used professional, with 67.7% of participants visiting a physiotherapist at least once, followed by dentists (66.1%), general practitioners (48.4%), occupational therapists (40.3%) and orthopaedic surgeons (40.3%). Physiotherapists were also the most frequently visited professional with a total of 473 visits (13.3 visits per person-year). Speech and language therapists (5.0 visits per person-year), occupational therapists (4.5 visits per person-year) and nurses (4.3 per person-year) were the next most frequently visited professionals. Age, GMFCS level, and speech impairment were associated with rate of visits to a physiotherapist. Conclusions: The proportion of young people who visited medical and rehabilitation professionals during the study period varied considerably depending on the profession. Generally, the proportion of young people using services was low. In the context of limited resources, data on service use in combination with data on unmet need, may support the reorganisation of services to maximise benefits to young people with CP.

Original language	English
Article number	659031
Journal	Frontiers in Neurology
Volume	12
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3389/fneur.2021.659031
Publication status	Published - 12 May 2021

Keywords

adolescent
cerebral palsy
health services
neurological disorders
rehabilitation

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10.3389/fneur.2021.659031

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@article{8e5e0e02ef434019b690a668db57d81a,

title = "Patterns of Health Service Use Among Young People With Cerebral Palsy in England",

abstract = "Background: Although the provision of healthcare for people with cerebral palsy (CP) is typically focussed on childhood, many people with CP require access to services periodically throughout their life. Few studies have examined patterns of health service use among young people with CP in England. Understanding patterns of use may inform future service development. Objective: To describe patterns of visits to rehabilitation and medical professionals among ambulatory young people with CP living in England, and identify factors associated with service use. Methods: Sixty-two young people with CP aged 10–19 years [mean (SD) age 13.7 (2.5) years] in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I-III reported visits to a range of health professionals, hospital admissions and visits to the emergency department over a median duration of 34 weeks (min–max: 12–34 weeks). Negative binomial models were used to examine factors associated with number of visits. Results: Physiotherapists were the most commonly used professional, with 67.7% of participants visiting a physiotherapist at least once, followed by dentists (66.1%), general practitioners (48.4%), occupational therapists (40.3%) and orthopaedic surgeons (40.3%). Physiotherapists were also the most frequently visited professional with a total of 473 visits (13.3 visits per person-year). Speech and language therapists (5.0 visits per person-year), occupational therapists (4.5 visits per person-year) and nurses (4.3 per person-year) were the next most frequently visited professionals. Age, GMFCS level, and speech impairment were associated with rate of visits to a physiotherapist. Conclusions: The proportion of young people who visited medical and rehabilitation professionals during the study period varied considerably depending on the profession. Generally, the proportion of young people using services was low. In the context of limited resources, data on service use in combination with data on unmet need, may support the reorganisation of services to maximise benefits to young people with CP.",

keywords = "adolescent, cerebral palsy, health services, neurological disorders, rehabilitation",

author = "Ryan, {Jennifer M.} and Grace Lavelle and Nicola Theis and Cherry Kilbride and Marika Noorkoiv",

note = "Funding Information: Action Medical Research and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Charitable Trust have jointly funded this project, and it was supported by a generous grant from The Henry Smith Charity (GN2340). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} Copyright {\textcopyright} 2021 Ryan, Lavelle, Theis, Kilbride and Noorkoiv. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

year = "2021",

month = may,

day = "12",

doi = "10.3389/fneur.2021.659031",

language = "English",

volume = "12",

journal = "Frontiers in Neurology",

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T1 - Patterns of Health Service Use Among Young People With Cerebral Palsy in England

AU - Ryan, Jennifer M.

AU - Lavelle, Grace

AU - Theis, Nicola

AU - Kilbride, Cherry

AU - Noorkoiv, Marika

N1 - Funding Information: Action Medical Research and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy Charitable Trust have jointly funded this project, and it was supported by a generous grant from The Henry Smith Charity (GN2340). Publisher Copyright: © Copyright © 2021 Ryan, Lavelle, Theis, Kilbride and Noorkoiv. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/5/12

Y1 - 2021/5/12

N2 - Background: Although the provision of healthcare for people with cerebral palsy (CP) is typically focussed on childhood, many people with CP require access to services periodically throughout their life. Few studies have examined patterns of health service use among young people with CP in England. Understanding patterns of use may inform future service development. Objective: To describe patterns of visits to rehabilitation and medical professionals among ambulatory young people with CP living in England, and identify factors associated with service use. Methods: Sixty-two young people with CP aged 10–19 years [mean (SD) age 13.7 (2.5) years] in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I-III reported visits to a range of health professionals, hospital admissions and visits to the emergency department over a median duration of 34 weeks (min–max: 12–34 weeks). Negative binomial models were used to examine factors associated with number of visits. Results: Physiotherapists were the most commonly used professional, with 67.7% of participants visiting a physiotherapist at least once, followed by dentists (66.1%), general practitioners (48.4%), occupational therapists (40.3%) and orthopaedic surgeons (40.3%). Physiotherapists were also the most frequently visited professional with a total of 473 visits (13.3 visits per person-year). Speech and language therapists (5.0 visits per person-year), occupational therapists (4.5 visits per person-year) and nurses (4.3 per person-year) were the next most frequently visited professionals. Age, GMFCS level, and speech impairment were associated with rate of visits to a physiotherapist. Conclusions: The proportion of young people who visited medical and rehabilitation professionals during the study period varied considerably depending on the profession. Generally, the proportion of young people using services was low. In the context of limited resources, data on service use in combination with data on unmet need, may support the reorganisation of services to maximise benefits to young people with CP.

AB - Background: Although the provision of healthcare for people with cerebral palsy (CP) is typically focussed on childhood, many people with CP require access to services periodically throughout their life. Few studies have examined patterns of health service use among young people with CP in England. Understanding patterns of use may inform future service development. Objective: To describe patterns of visits to rehabilitation and medical professionals among ambulatory young people with CP living in England, and identify factors associated with service use. Methods: Sixty-two young people with CP aged 10–19 years [mean (SD) age 13.7 (2.5) years] in Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) levels I-III reported visits to a range of health professionals, hospital admissions and visits to the emergency department over a median duration of 34 weeks (min–max: 12–34 weeks). Negative binomial models were used to examine factors associated with number of visits. Results: Physiotherapists were the most commonly used professional, with 67.7% of participants visiting a physiotherapist at least once, followed by dentists (66.1%), general practitioners (48.4%), occupational therapists (40.3%) and orthopaedic surgeons (40.3%). Physiotherapists were also the most frequently visited professional with a total of 473 visits (13.3 visits per person-year). Speech and language therapists (5.0 visits per person-year), occupational therapists (4.5 visits per person-year) and nurses (4.3 per person-year) were the next most frequently visited professionals. Age, GMFCS level, and speech impairment were associated with rate of visits to a physiotherapist. Conclusions: The proportion of young people who visited medical and rehabilitation professionals during the study period varied considerably depending on the profession. Generally, the proportion of young people using services was low. In the context of limited resources, data on service use in combination with data on unmet need, may support the reorganisation of services to maximise benefits to young people with CP.

KW - adolescent

KW - cerebral palsy

KW - health services

KW - neurological disorders

KW - rehabilitation

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U2 - 10.3389/fneur.2021.659031

DO - 10.3389/fneur.2021.659031

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SN - 1664-2295

VL - 12

JO - Frontiers in Neurology

JF - Frontiers in Neurology

M1 - 659031

ER -

Patterns of Health Service Use Among Young People With Cerebral Palsy in England

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Keywords

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