RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre Annual Report 2014-2015: disparities in presentations to primary care

The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC) comprises over 100 general practices in England, with a population of around 1 million, providing a public health surveillance system for England and data for research. To demonstrate the scope of data with the RCGP Annual Report 2014-2015 (May 2014 to April 2015) by describing disparities in the presentation of six common conditions included in the report. This is a report of respiratory and communicable disease incidence from a primary care sentinel network in England. Incidence rates and demographic profiles are described for common cold, acute otitis media, pneumonia, influenza-like illness, herpes zoster, and scarlet fever. The impact of age, sex, ethnicity, and deprivation on the diagnosis of each condition is explored using a multivariate logistic regression. With the exception of herpes zoster, all conditions followed a seasonal pattern. Apart from pneumonia and scarlet fever, the odds of presenting with any of the selected conditions were greater for females (P