Primary healthcare use prior to hospital consultations for spinal disorders among Danish children and adolescents: A descriptive nationwide registry-based study.

@article{overgaard2026primary,
  title = {{Primary healthcare use prior to hospital consultations for spinal disorders among Danish children and adolescents: A descriptive nationwide registry-based study.}},
  author = {Freja Gomez Overgaard and Michael Swain and Mette Wod and Lise Hestbæk and Henrik Hein Lauridsen and Søren Francis Dyhrberg O'Neill and Casper Nim},
  journal = {European journal of pediatrics},
  year = {2026},
  month = oct,
  doi = {10.1007/s00431-026-07540-y},
  url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42955406},
  note = {CC BY},
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - Primary healthcare use prior to hospital consultations for spinal disorders among Danish children and adolescents: A descriptive nationwide registry-based study.
AU  - Freja Gomez Overgaard
AU  - Michael Swain
AU  - Mette Wod
AU  - Lise Hestbæk
AU  - Henrik Hein Lauridsen
AU  - Søren Francis Dyhrberg O'Neill
AU  - Casper Nim
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/29
JO  - European journal of pediatrics
DO  - 10.1007/s00431-026-07540-y
UR  - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42955406
AB  - Hospital-based spine-related diagnoses in children are often preceded by substantial healthcare use, but patterns and determinants remain poorly understood. This study aimed to describe pre-hospital primary healthcare use according to parental spine-related hospital diagnoses, the child's comorbidity burden, and household income. We conducted a nationwide, registry-based cohort study including all Danish children aged 2-17 years with a first hospital-based spine-related diagnosis between 2009 and 2022 (n = 46,497). Healthcare services with general practitioners (GP), chiropractors, physiotherapists, and office-based specialist providers in the two years prior to diagnosis were quantified. Primary healthcare use was described across age groups, parental spine-related hospital diagnoses, the child's comorbidity burden, and income tertiles. In the two years before diagnosis, children had a median of 9 reimbursed GP services (IQR [5-17]), 0 chiropractor services [0-0], 0 physiotherapy services [0-0], and 0 office-based specialist services [0-1]. GP use was common, whereas use of non-GP providers was highly skewed, with most children having no or few reimbursed services and a smaller subgroup having repeated service use. Descriptive patterns of healthcare use varied according to parental spine-related hospital diagnoses and comorbidity burden. Healthcare use showed no clear descriptive gradient across household income groups.Conclusion  Patterns of primary healthcare use varied according to parental spine-related hospital diagnoses and comorbidity burden. No clear overall income gradient was observed, although patterns varied by provider type. These findings describe heterogeneous pre-hospital primary healthcare use in this population.What is known  • Spinal pain is common in children and is associated with substantial burden, including school absence and later risk of chronic pain. • Hospital-based spinal diagnoses in children are increasingly non-specific and often represent conditions that could be managed in primary care.What is new  • Higher primary healthcare use was observed among children with greater comorbidity burden and among those with parental spine-related hospital diagnoses. • Differences in total primary healthcare use across household income groups were small, with no clear income gradient.
SN  - 0340-6199
SN  - 1432-1076
ER  -