2022 Volume 125 Issue 11 Pages 1570-1577
Otolaryngologists' participation in home medical care has been discussed before. We conducted did a questionnaire survey of home doctors' opinions about home visits paid by otolaryngologists. The objective of the survey was to understand the current status of home medical care provided by situation of otolaryngologists and to investigate the future issues.
The subjects of the questionnaire survey were 716 doctors who were randomly selected from the home medical care support clinics registered in Osaka. Dermatologists, dentists and urologists were the most frequently requested by the home doctors to visit their home care patients in the past. Ophthalmologists and psychiatrists were also requested, but otolaryngologists and orthopedists were seldom called. Only 13% of the home doctors requested visits by otolaryngologists, and about 90% had never called an Otorhinolaryngologist. The most common indication for otolaryngologist visit requests were dysphagia, impacted earwax, otorrhea, otitis media and epistaxis. There were also some cases of head and neck tumors, including oral, pharyngeal and laryngeal cancer. About 45% of the home doctors had charge of the patients with dysphagia, and they most frequently requested otolaryngologist visits, although a considerable number of them requested dentists and speech therapists to visit. The speech therapists were actually the most frequently involved in the treatment of dysphagia. About 90% of the home doctors expected otolaryngologists to participate in home care. Our research disclosed various problems in the system of home visit request and cooperation/coordination pertaining to special visit requests.
