A 12-month profile of community paediatric consultations in the Barwon region

Objective: To determine the profile of all consultations carried out in pae diatricians' offices in the Barwon region over a 12-month period. Methodology: The age, sex, category, diagnosis, and outcome of ail non-hosp ital-based paediatric consultations carried out in the Barwon region were d ocumented prospectively on a day by day basis. Relevant demographic data an d information on Barwon children treated elsewhere were also collected. The frequency of different categories of illness, systems involved and groups of diagnoses was determined. Results: A total of 14 711 consultations was carried out in the region with 10% of the childhood population having contact with the paediatricians dur ing the year; 3135 new patients or problems were seen with 34.8% of all con sultations involving behavioural problems and 76% of these relating to ADHD . The most frequent medical diagnostic group was CNS/disability being 16% o f all consultations. At least 50% of the medical consultations involved chr onic illness. Conclusions: Behavioural difficulty, chronic disability, and learning probl ems represent a significant part of the workload of community-based general paediatricians. Appropriate exposure during paediatric training should be given to these issues along with more sophisticated training in the medical , social and psychological complications of chronic illness and its effect on clients and families.