TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2002//
TI  - Long-term hospital attendance of children and adults who have undergone removal of normal or inflamed appendices
JO  - British journal of psychiatry
A1  - Dummett, Nicola J.
A1  - Maughan, Nicola J.
A1  - Worrall-Davies, Anne
SP  - 526
EP  - 530
VL  - 181
IS  - 
N2  - BACKGROUND: Early studies suggested that presentations with unexplained acute abdominal pain were associated with increased long-term rates of hospital attendance and self-harm, especially in women, but few studies were large enough for definitive findings.  AIMS: To test the hypothesis that such presentations are followed by higher long-term utilisation rates of secondary health care even excluding further abdominal symptoms, and particularly for self-harm, than presentations with acute appendicitis.  METHOD: New hospital attendance rates, liaison psychiatry attendances and self-harm attendances of patients with normal appendices at emergency appendicectomy were compared with those of appendicitis patients.  RESULTS: Attendance rates of all kinds were significantly higher for normal appendix patients than for appendicitis patients, with equal strengths of finding for males and females.  CONCLUSIONS: People with normal appendices at emergency appendicectomy show higher long-term rates of hospital attendance. This has implications for how these patients are best managed by health care systems.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0007-1250
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.181.6.526
ID  - ref1
ER  -