Paediatric patients of outreach specialist Queensland clinics have lung function improvement comparable to that of tertiary paediatric patients.

Paediatric patients of outreach specialist Queensland clinics have lung function improvement comparable to that of tertiary paediatric patients. Chest. 2020 May 06;: Authors: Collaro AJ, Chang AB, Marchant JM, Rodwell LT, Masters IB, Chatfield MD, McElrea MS Abstract BACKGROUND: Inequitable access to quality healthcare contributes to the known poorer outcomes of people living in regional/remote areas (c.f. urban-based), especially for First Nations people. Integration of specialist outreach services within primary care is one strategy that can reduce the inequity when modelled to the needs and available resources of target communities. RESEARCH QUESTION: To evaluate whether respiratory outreach clinics in regional and remote Queensland are as effective as tertiary respiratory services at improving the lung function of children. STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS: From existing databases, we obtained spirometry data of children (aged 3-18 years) seen at Indigenous-focused outreach clinics in regional and remote Queensland and Brisbane-based paediatric tertiary hospitals over the same contemporary period (October 2010 to July 2019). We compared the change in spirometry z-scores (Δz) at follow-up for both groups of children. RESULTS: Lung function significantly improved in both groups: Tertiary hospital (n=2249; Δz forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1)=0.22, 95%CI 0.17, 0.27; Δz forced vital capacity (FVC)=0.23, 9...
Source: Chest - Category: Respiratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Chest Source Type: research