2008 Grant Awards

The posters and papers listed below each grant arise from work facilitated through the grant funding.

Time to get an appointment to a rheumatologist and for rehabilitation services: is rheumatoid arthritis prioritized?

Principal Investigator: Feldman, D (PDF)
Co-investigator: Bernatsky, S

Project Summary

We assessed wait times to get an appointment in Quebec to a rheumatologist and to a public rehabilitation service (physiotherapy or occupational therapy) after being referred by a primary care physician for patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Although RA was prioritized over OA for rheumatology appointments, waits for RA still exceeded 3 months in the majority of cases. There were no differences in RA or OA access to public rehabilitation services, however wait times were lengthy (> 6 months and often >12 months) and 16% of departments would not accept referrals altogether. Our study suggests that RA is prioritized over OA when obtaining an appointment to a rheumatologist in the province of Quebec.  However, the majority of persons with RA are still not receiving rheumatology or rehabilitation services in a timely manner.  Better methods for triage and increased resource allocation are needed.

Published Literature

  • Wait Times for Rheumatology Consultation: Is Rheumatoid Arthritis Prioritized?, Journal of Clinical Rheumatology (2012)
  • Wait Times for Physical and Occupational Therapy in the Public System for People with Arthritis in Quebec, Physiotherapy Canada (2013)