Musculoskeletal and neurologic conditions in rural family practice: implications for physical medicine curriculums

Abstract

To help determine the educational needs of both students and practitioners, an inventory of musculoskeletal and neurologic disorders was made of eight rural family practices for one year. Data on 54,043 patients representing 152,482 visits was put into an automated information system at the time care was received and coded by diagnosis. Computer listings provided the frequency of 372 diagnoses, the age distribution for diagnoses and the percent of total patients for each diagnosis. Physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R) conditions accounted for a minimum of 6.9% of the total visits and 11.7% of conditions that occurred individually in small numbers. PM&R conditions were fairly evenly distributed throughout all age ranges, indicating a need for education in both pediatric and adult areas. The breakdown of PM&R conditions by category provides valuable insight for future curriculum development.