Workload trends in otolaryngology: some statistical observations from medical record linkage

Trends in admission rates, lengths of stay, and clinical case mix (adjusted for multiple admissions per person) for Otolaryngology from 1975 to 1985 are described using the Oxford Record Linkage Study. Person-based admission rates increased generally, most strikingly amongst children and adolescents. Both length of stay per episode and total number of days an individual stayed in hospital each year decreased. Operations on tonsils and adenoids decreased averaging 2.2% per annum; admissions for diagnoses for otitis media with effusion increased averaging 8.2% per annum; for the operations of myringotomy and tympanostomy tube insertion increased averaging 9.2% per annum; for other diagnoses related to the ear increased averaging 5.7% per annum; and admissions for malignant neoplasms decreased averaging 2.0% per annum. Clearly more people are being treated for a changing case mix. The largest increases are occurring with children and adolescents.