[Computer-based health care research in the competence network inflammatory bowel disease. Handling of bowel diseases in general practice].
BACKGROUND
Consultations due to most different bowel diseases and abdominal symptoms are common in primary care. However, little is known about the concrete situation in the general practitioner's office so far. In this study, practitioners involved in the actual treatment of patients with bowel diseases document their medical strategies by the use of an internet-based data entry system. Hence, with the support of an internet-based data collection tool, health care research has started to break new ground.


METHODS
Following the programming of a digital data collection system and the installation of a nationwide research network of general practitioners interested in this matter, participating physicians communicated anonymised data on medical care of patients with various abdominal problems and intestinal/bowel diseases to the principal study investigators for 12 months, thereby using a computer-based data entry system (via internet).


RESULTS
Within the 12 months of observation, 94 general practitioners documented 1,584 patient contacts by using the new data collection system. Accordingly, the most frequent reasons for consultation were abdominal pain (39%) and a change in stool habits (28%), each over a period of > 21 days. Women reported abdominal pain more often than men. Furthermore, the willingness to cooperate with specialists (hospitalization, referrals) was high among participating physicians, in reference to abdominal problems, thereby not demonstrating gender specificity. In the majority of cases, computer-assisted data entry took place outside regular consultation hours, and physicians frequently documented more than one patient within one session.


CONCLUSIONS
High numbers of hospitalizations and specialist referrals, as shown in this study, points toward a high intensity of medical attendance necessary for patients with unspecific symptoms of the bowel or related abdominal problems. Computer-assisted data entry systems, however, represent a challenging yet still realizable way of data collection. This procedure should be brought forward for future projects in health care research.
Heintze
Christoph
C
Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Charité-Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Charité Mitte, Berlin. Christoph.heintze@charite.de
Esch
Tobias
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Braun
Vittoria
V