Use of primary health care services among children and adolescents with cerebral palsy.

The study used administrative records of contacts and diagnosis codes, not clinical assessment, so it shows recorded service use rather than confirmed health needs. Many contacts were coded as general or unspecified conditions, and many general practitioner contacts were coded only as neurological disease other, which may hide the actual reason for the visit. Urgent care centre coding is known to be non-specific, which reduces confidence in diagnosis-level findings for that setting. At older ages, the estimates were less certain because fewer children remained in the analysis and the ranges around the estimates overlapped. The study did not measure whether primary health care needs were met or whether contacts were appropriate.

The paper states that the study was funded by NordForsk.

Do not read the higher number of primary care contacts as proof that children with cerebral palsy have unmet health needs. The study counted recorded contacts, and many contacts were coded as general or unspecified conditions or only as neurological disease other, so it did not show whether the contact was appropriate or whether the need was met.