Fibromyalgia & musculoskeletal pain
Sequence Analysis to Phenotype Health Care Patterns in Adults With Musculoskeletal Conditions Using Primary Care Electronic Health Records
Authors' conclusion
This analysis identified five distinct clusters of health care patterns for patients with MSK conditions in primary care and observed substantial variations in patients' self-reported outcomes and sociodemographic profiles across these different groups of patients.
Study context
- Population
- Adults (≥18 years) consulting primary care for musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions, Sept 2021–July 2022, North Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent, UKavailable for analysis
- Participants
- 1,875 adults
- Exposure
- Increasing consultation and analgesia vs Low consultation and health care use vs High consultation and health care use vs Low consultation but high analgesia vs Low consultation but moderate health care use
- Outcome
- Health care pattern clusters (consultations, analgesic prescriptions, imaging, physiotherapy, secondary care referrals) in the 5 years before index consultation, and their association with self-reported outcomes
Methodological detailssequence analysis, primary care electronic health records
- Sequence analysis
- Primary care electronic health records
Main finding
As reported in the abstract
Proportion of patients in each health care pattern cluster
Observational data: associations, not effects.
Further findings
Sociodemographic characteristics
- High consultation and health care use: predominantly female, older, obesity, more comorbidities, most deprived areas vs low consultation and health care use
Self-reported outcomes
- Varied significantly among clusters; worse in high consultation and health care use
Original publication
Sequence Analysis to Phenotype Health Care Patterns in Adults With Musculoskeletal Conditions Using Primary Care Electronic Health Records. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). Published 19 April 2025. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →