Cyclical variation in number of visits and major diagnoses at a rural family practice clinic.
Many physicians have noted time-related variations in the numbers of patients and types of diagnoses seen in their practices. These variations may be weekly, monthly, or seasonal. A powerful analytical technique used in electronics, economics, and the life-sciences to detect cyclic variation (time-series analysis) was applied to total visits and major diagnoses at a rural clinic to identify and describe the existence of time-related variations. Significant cycles were found in total visits and most diagnostic categories, with cycles longer than four months being the most prominent. Physician availability was highly correlated with variations in all visit categories tested, including injury visits. However, little variation was found in the use of referral. These findings may have implications for medical training, epidemiologic surveillance, and health resource planning. This method should be considered to be a standard technique for study of time-related variables.
D005194:Family Practice; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D008923:Missouri; D009017:Morbidity; D011364:Professional Practice; D012017:Referral and Consultation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons