What can analysis of calls to NHS direct tell us about the epidemiology of XXXX in the community?

@entity1 @entity6766 @entity294 @entity391 @entity344
OBJECTIVES: Most gastrointestinal (GI) illness within the UK goes undetected by routine surveillance. A national telephone helpline for health advice (NHS Direct) offers a new source of data on @entity344 . We aim to describe NHS Direct calls suggestive of @entity344 and the outcome of these calls. METHODS: Details of over 150000 telephone calls were collected from NHS Direct over a 6-month period. Calls about ' @entity294 ', ' @entity391 ' or ' @entity6766 ' were defined as GI calls and described according to the age of the @entity1 and call outcome. RESULTS: Gastrointestinal calls accounted for 10.3% of total calls (' @entity294 '=4.9%, ' @entity391 '=5.1%). GI calls as a proportion of total calls were significantly high in @entity1 under 1 year (23.5%) and aged 1-4 years (21.5%). Call outcomes which resulted in further NHS care being recommended accounted for 72.3% of total calls and 54.5% of GI calls. CONCLUSIONS: A high proportion of NHS Direct calls were about GI symptoms especially for @entity1 under 5 years. When compared with all NHS Direct calls, GI calls were less likely to result in further NHS care being recommended. Analysis of NHS Direct calls provides further insight into @entity344 in the community.
