Background: The diagnostic yield of neuroimaging in chronic headache is low, but can reduce the use of health services.
Aim: To determine whether primary care access to brain computed tomography (CT) referral for chronic headache reduces referral to secondary care.
Design of study: Prospective observational analysis of GP referrals to an open access CT brain scanning service.
Setting: Primary care, and outpatient radiology and neurology departments.
Method: GPs in Tayside and North East Fife, Scotland were given access to brain CT for patients with chronic headache. All referrals were analysed prospectively over 1 year, and questionnaires were sent to referrers to establish whether imaging had resulted in or stopped a referral to secondary care. The Tayside outpatient clinic database identified scanned patients referred to the neurology clinic for headache from the start of the study period to at least 1 year after their scan.
Results: There were 232 referrals (55.1/100 000/year, 95% confidence interval = 50.4 to 59.9) from GPs in 59 (82%) of 72 primary care practices. CT was performed on 215 patients. Significant abnormalities were noted in 3 (1.4%) patients; there were 22 (10.2%) non-significant findings, and 190 (88.4%) normal scans. Questionnaires of the referring GPs reported that 167 (88%) scans stopped a referral to secondary care. GPs referred 30 (14%) scanned patients to a neurologist because of headache. It is estimated that imaging reduced referrals to secondary care by 86% in the follow-up period.
Conclusion: An open access brain CT service for patients with chronic headache was used by most GP practices in Tayside, and reduced the number of referrals to secondary care.