Abstract
Objective To develop outreach clinics for orthodontic consultation and evaluate their costs and effectiveness.
Design Single centre randomised controlled trial with random allocation of referred patients to outreach or main base consultation appointments.
Setting One hospital orthodontic department and three community health centre clinics in Greater Manchester.
Subjects 324 patients who were referred for orthodontic treatment.
Main outcome measures The outcome of consultation, the cost and duration of the visit and the consumer's perceptions of the visit.
Results There were no differences in outcome of the consultation. While consumer travel costs and the duration of appointments were significantly higher for the main base clinics, these differences were not great. However, consumers preferred to attend an appointment in an outreach clinic.
Conclusions There do not appear to be marked advantages or disadvantages in providing consultation appointments for orthodontics in outreach clinics
Similar content being viewed by others
Log in or create a free account to read this content
Gain free access to this article, as well as selected content from this journal and more on nature.com
or
References
Bailey J, Black M, Wilkin D. Specialist outreach clinics in general practice. Br Med J 1994; 308: 1083–1086.
Association of community health councils. Fundholding and access to hospital care. Health News briefing. March 1994.
Audit Commission. What the Doctor ordered: a study of GP fundholders in England and Wales. London: HMSO, 1996.
Mitchell AR. Psychiatrists in primary health care settings. Br J Psych 1985; 147: 371–379.
Gillam et al. Investigation of the benefits and costs of an opthalmic outreach clinic in general practice. Br J Gen Prac 1995; 45: 649–652.
Black M, Leese B, Gosden T, Mead N. Specialist outreach clinics in general practice; What do they offer. Br J Gen Prac 1997; 47: 558–561.
Gosden T, Black M, Mead N, Leese B. The efficiency of specialist outreach clinics in general practice: Is further evaluation needed. J Health Services Res Pol 1997; 2: 174–179.
Bowling A, Stramer K, Dickinson E et al. Evaluation of specialists' outreach clinics in general practice in England; process and acceptability to patients, specialists and general practitioners. J Epidemiol Comm Health 1997; 51: 52–61.
O'Brien KD et al. Dentist's perceptions of orthodontic services. Br Dent J 1995; 178: 461–464.
O'Brien K D et al. Do dentists refer patients inappropriately. Br Dent J 1996: 181; 132–136.
O'Brien K D, Wright J, Conboy F et al. The effect of orthodontic referral guidelines: A randomised controlled trial. Br Dent J 2000; 188: 392–397.
Davies A R, Ware J E. GHAA's consumer satisfaction survey and manual. Washington: Group Health Association of America, 1991.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the Central Manchester Healthcare Trust Research Committee for funding this project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Refereed paper
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
O'Brien, K., Mattick, R., Mandall, N. et al. Are specialist outreach clinics for orthodontic consultation effective? A randomised controlled trial. Br Dent J 191, 203–207 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4801140
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bdj.4801140
This article is cited by
-
The use of postal reminders to reduce non-attendance at an orthodontic clinic: A randomised controlled trial
British Dental Journal (2003)
-
Letters
British Dental Journal (2001)
