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Table 4 Contact and referral patterns

From: Barriers and gaps in headache education: a national cross-sectional survey of neurology residents in Denmark

 

All participants (n = 54)

Introduction program (n = 25)

Main program (n = 29)

Proportion of consultations related to headache

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

1–10%

13 (24%)

10 (40%)

3 (10%)

11–20%

29 (54%)

7 (28%)

22 (76%)

21–30%

8 (15%)

5 (20%)

3 (10%)

31–40%

0 (0%)

0 (0%)

0 (0%)

 > 40%

4 (7%)

3 (12%)

1 (3%)

None

0 (0%)

0 (0%)

0 (0%)

Primary care

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

Mean (SD)

Contact from primary care for professional advice on headachea

2.37 (1.29)

1.89 (0.96)

2.86 (1.36)

Collaboration with primary care for referred headache patientsb

2.63 (0.79)

2.60 (0.77)

2.66 (0.83)

Proportion of headache patients referred to tertiary/specialist care

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

1–10%

9 (17%)

4 (16%)

5 (17%)

11–20%

35 (65%)

14 (56%)

21 (72%)

21–30%

7 (13%)

5 (20%)

2 (7%)

31–40%

1 (2%)

1 (4%)

0 (0%)

 > 40%

1 (2%)

0 (0%)

1 (3%)

Never

1 (2%)

1 (4%)

0 (0%)

Most common reason for referring to tertiary/specialist carec

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

 • Diagnostic uncertainty

20 (37%)

11 (44%)

9 (31%)

 • Suspicion of serious underlying cause

2 (4%)

2 (8%)

0 (0%)

 • Lack of treatment efficacy

32 (59%)

11 (44%)

21 (72%)

 • Desire/expectation of the patient

11 (20%)

5 (20%)

6 (21%)

 •Other

8 (15%)

5 (20%)

3 (10%)

Wait time for referral to tertiary/specialist care

n (%)

n (%)

n (%)

Short

0 (0%)

0 (0%)

0 (0%)

Acceptable

16 (30%)

11 (44%)

5 (17%)

Long

21 (39%)

8 (32%)

13 (45%)

Unacceptably long

8 (15%)

2 (8%)

6 (21%)

Do not know

9 (17%)

4 (16%)

5 (21%)

Helpful for patients to be referred to tertiary/specialist cared

Mean (SD) 2.33 (0.74)

Mean (SD) 2.00 (0.76)

Mean (SD) 2.62 (0.74)

  1. aScale from 1–5; 1: never, 5: very frequently. bScale from 1–5; 1: none/very bad, 5: very good. cParticipants could choose up to two answers. dScale from 1–5; 1: not at all, 5: to a great extent. 10 (19%) responded they did not know