Natural history of abdominal pain in family practice: Longitudinal study of electronic medical record data in southwestern Ontario.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To examine the frequency, natural history, and outcomes of 3 subtypes of abdominal pain (general abdominal pain, epigastric pain, localized abdominal pain) among patients visiting Canadian family practices.

Design

Retrospective cohort study with a 4-year longitudinal analysis.

Setting

Southwestern Ontario.

Participants

A total of 1790 eligible patients with International Classification of Primary Care codes for abdominal pain from 18 family physicians in 8 group practices.

Main outcome measures

The symptom pathways, the length of an episode, and the number of visits.

Results

Abdominal pain accounted for 2.4% of the 15,149 patient visits and involved 14.0% of the 1790 eligible patients. The frequencies of each of the 3 subtypes were as fo

SUBMITTER: Freeman TR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10177648 | biostudies-literature | 2023 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature