Referral letters to pediatric rheumatology: referral content and impact on triage – an observational study
Authors' conclusion
Missing important details in referrals to pediatric rheumatology contribute to delayed assessment.
Study context
- Population
- Referrals to a tertiary care pediatric rheumatology centre
- Participants
- 384 vs 67
- Exposure
- Referral letters with sufficient content for immediate triage vs incomplete letters requiring further information
- Immediately triagedn = 384reference
- Further information requestedn = 67
- Outcome
- Time-to-triage (delay when further information requested)
Methodological detailssingle-centre, tertiary care, logistic regression
- Single-centre
- Tertiary care
- Logistic regression
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Further information requested; delay in time-to-triage
Further information requested
15%
67
- Median delay in time-to-triage
- seven days
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Rheumatic diagnosis
- Rheumatic diagnosis — Rheumatic diagnoses from all referrals overall
- 42%
- Rheumatic diagnosis: 63 referrals requiring further information assessed for diagnosis
Rheumatic diagnosis
- Rheumatic diagnoses less common from family physician referrals
Parts of this Brief are withheld: the automatic checks could not confirm them against the abstract.
Original publication
Referral letters to pediatric rheumatology: referral content and impact on triage – an observational study. Pediatr Rheumatol Online J. Published 10 October 2025. doi:10.
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