Reasons for outpatient consultations in allergy/immunology

The study authors retrospectively reviewed the electronic medical records of all outpatient A/I consultations during one year (January-December, 2006) at a tertiary care referral center which is a GME training site.

There were 1412 A/I consults requested during the 1-year period. The consults per month ranged from a low of 69 to a high of 157.

The referrals consisted of 35% pediatric and 65% adult patients: 74.3% of referrals from primary care, 19.8% from specialty care, and 5.9% from the emergency department.

The most common reasons for outpatient consultation included:

- 57.2% patients for chronic rhinitis
- 20.4% for asthma
- 13.9% for food allergy
- 6.3% for venom allergy
- 4.8% for atopic dermatitis
- 4.7% for drug allergy
- 4.4% for chronic urticaria
- 3.2% for acute urticaria
- 2.4% for immunodeficiency
- 2.2% for anaphylaxis

References:
Reasons for outpatient consultation in allergy/immunology. Dietrich, Jeffrey J.1; Quinn, James M.; England, Ronald W. Allergy and Asthma Proceedings, Volume 30, Number 1, January/February 2009 , pp. 69-74(6).
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