TY - JOUR T1 - Examining the symptom of fatigue in primary care: a comparative study using electronic medical records JF - BMJ Health & Care Informatics SP - 235 LP - 243 DO - 10.14236/jhi.v22i1.91 VL - 22 IS - 1 AU - Kathryn Nicholson AU - Moira Stewart AU - Amardeep Thind Y1 - 2015/01/01 UR - http://informatics.bmj.com/content/22/1/235.abstract N2 - Background The symptom of fatigue is one of the top five most frequently presented health complaints in primary care, yet it remains underexplored in the Canadian primary care context.Objective The objective of this study was to examine the prevalence and impact of patients presenting with fatigue in primary care, using the only known electronic database in Canada to capture patient-reported symptoms.Methods Data were extracted from the Deliver Primary Healthcare Information (DELPHI) database, an electronic medical record database located in Ontario, Canada. Patients were identified using the International Classification of Primary Care, Revised Second Edition coding system. Two groups of patients (fatigue or non-fatigue symptom) were followed for one year and compared. Both descriptive and multivariable analyses were conducted.Results A total of 103 fatigue symptom patients, and 103 non-fatigue symptom patients, were identified in the DELPHI database. The period prevalence of fatigue presentation was 8.2%, with the majority of patients being female and over 60 years of age. These patients experienced numerous co-occurring morbidities, in addition to the fatigue itself. During the one year follow-up period, fatigue symptom patients had significantly higher rates of subsequent visits (IRR = 1.19, p = 0.038) and investigations (IRR = 1.68, p < 0.001), and markedly high levels of referrals following their index visit.Conclusions This research used an electronic database to examine the symptom, fatigue. Using these data, fatigue symptom patients were found to have higher rates of health care utilisation, compared to non-fatigue symptom patients.Where This Study Fits InThe symptom of fatigue is a common complaint in primary care practices, reported in approximately 5%–7% of primary care encounters.Using the International Classification of Primary Care, Revised Second Edition (ICPC-2-R) coding system, fatigue symptom presentation was found among 8.2% of patients presenting to 10 primary care practices in Ontario, Canada.With an average age of 63.1 years, the majority of these fatigue symptom patients were female (68.0%) and had co-occurring chronic and psychosocial conditions (88% and 52%, respectively).Compared to a non-fatigue symptom patient group, patients presenting with fatigue experienced significantly higher levels of subsequent visits and investigations during the one year period following an index visit.Future research using electronic medical records should continue to examine amorphous and complex symptoms, such as fatigue, to inform more effective and appropriate clinical management in the primary care context. ER -