Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study
Background: People with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) commonly describe long delays before diagnosis. Aim: To study the natural history of GPA prior to diagnosis using primary care data, and determine whether clinical features could be identified to help earlier diagnosis.DesignCase-contro...
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| Format: | Article |
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Oxford University Press
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47377/ |
| _version_ | 1848797530939195392 |
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| author | Pearce, Fiona A. Hubbard, Richard Grainge, Matthew J. Watts, Richard A. Abhishek, Abhishek Lanyon, Peter C. |
| author_facet | Pearce, Fiona A. Hubbard, Richard Grainge, Matthew J. Watts, Richard A. Abhishek, Abhishek Lanyon, Peter C. |
| author_sort | Pearce, Fiona A. |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Background: People with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) commonly describe long delays before diagnosis.
Aim: To study the natural history of GPA prior to diagnosis using primary care data, and determine whether clinical features could be identified to help earlier diagnosis.DesignCase-control study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink.
Methods: We compared primary care activity and clinical features between cases and 10 matched controls.
Results: We identified 757 cases and matched 7,546 controls. Compared to controls, cases had more GP consultations and overall healthcare activity in the five years prior to their diagnosis, with a marked increase in the year before diagnosis, and particularly in the last 3 months. However, consultations were mostly for symptoms that were not specifically related to GPA. In the year prior to diagnosis, the most frequent and strongly predictive clinical features of GPA were Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) symptoms (34.5% of cases, odds ratio (OR) 10.5, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 8.6-12.7), and general (constitutional) symptoms (21.5% of cases, OR 9.0, 95% CI 7.1-11.3). In the year before diagnosis a larger number of cases attended secondary care (382, 50.5%) than had records of clinical features of GPA.
Conclusions: After discussing our findings, we conclude it would be difficult to identify cases of GPA earlier in primary care. Our results support a need for heightened awareness of this condition among secondary care clinicians, especially those assessing emergency admissions, and in the clinics which were most frequently attended by cases 3-12 months prior to diagnosis. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:05:21Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-47377 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:05:21Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Oxford University Press |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-473772020-05-04T19:11:27Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47377/ Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study Pearce, Fiona A. Hubbard, Richard Grainge, Matthew J. Watts, Richard A. Abhishek, Abhishek Lanyon, Peter C. Background: People with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) commonly describe long delays before diagnosis. Aim: To study the natural history of GPA prior to diagnosis using primary care data, and determine whether clinical features could be identified to help earlier diagnosis.DesignCase-control study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Methods: We compared primary care activity and clinical features between cases and 10 matched controls. Results: We identified 757 cases and matched 7,546 controls. Compared to controls, cases had more GP consultations and overall healthcare activity in the five years prior to their diagnosis, with a marked increase in the year before diagnosis, and particularly in the last 3 months. However, consultations were mostly for symptoms that were not specifically related to GPA. In the year prior to diagnosis, the most frequent and strongly predictive clinical features of GPA were Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) symptoms (34.5% of cases, odds ratio (OR) 10.5, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 8.6-12.7), and general (constitutional) symptoms (21.5% of cases, OR 9.0, 95% CI 7.1-11.3). In the year before diagnosis a larger number of cases attended secondary care (382, 50.5%) than had records of clinical features of GPA. Conclusions: After discussing our findings, we conclude it would be difficult to identify cases of GPA earlier in primary care. Our results support a need for heightened awareness of this condition among secondary care clinicians, especially those assessing emergency admissions, and in the clinics which were most frequently attended by cases 3-12 months prior to diagnosis. Oxford University Press 2017-10-09 Article PeerReviewed Pearce, Fiona A., Hubbard, Richard, Grainge, Matthew J., Watts, Richard A., Abhishek, Abhishek and Lanyon, Peter C. (2017) Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study. QJM: An International Journal of Medicine . ISSN 1460-2725 https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/article/doi/10.1093/qjmed/hcx194/4381907/Can-Granulomatosis-with-polyangiitis-be-diagnosed 10.1093/qjmed/hcx194 10.1093/qjmed/hcx194 10.1093/qjmed/hcx194 |
| spellingShingle | Pearce, Fiona A. Hubbard, Richard Grainge, Matthew J. Watts, Richard A. Abhishek, Abhishek Lanyon, Peter C. Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study |
| title | Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study |
| title_full | Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study |
| title_fullStr | Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study |
| title_short | Can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? A case-control study |
| title_sort | can granulomatosis with polyangiitis be diagnosed earlier in primary care? a case-control study |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47377/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47377/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/47377/ |