Verwijzing van patienten met een polyneuropathie door de huisarts: Geen invloed van de leeftijd, maar wel van de aard van de klachten

Objective. To investigate the influence of the age of the patient and the nature of a polyneuropathy on the referral behaviour of general practitioners (GPs). Design. Written questionnaire sent to GPs regarding paper case records of polyneuropathy. Setting. University Hospital Utrecht, the Netherlands. Methods. 1590 GPs were asked about their differential diagnosis regarding a paper case record of a patient with polyneuropathy. There were s x case records, differing in age (53, 64 and 73 years) and nature of the disease (sensory or sensorimotor polyneuropathy). The GPs were divided into six groups with similar demographic characteristics and type of practice. To avoid focus on polyneuropathy, all GPs also received questions about three other neurological cases (amaurosis fugax, radicular syndrome and vasovagal collapse). Results. The mean response of the questionnaire was 54% (n = 844). Most GPs diagnosed the polyneuropathy (analysis of variance; p < 0.0001). The age of the patient did not influence the diagnosis nor the referral behaviour. At least 73% of the patients with a sensory and 81% of the patients with a sensorimotor polyneuropathy were referred to neurologists for further investigations (x²-test; p < 0.5). Conclusion. At least 73% of the GPs referred a patient with polyneuropathy to a neurologist; patients with muscle weakness were referred more often than patients with only sensory disturbances. Referral was not influenced by the age of the patient.