Temporal trends and practice variation of paediatric diagnostic tests in primary care: retrospective analysis of 14 million tests.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

The primary objective was to investigate temporal trends and between-practice variability of paediatric test use in primary care.

Methods and analysis

This was a descriptive study of population-based data from Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum primary care consultation records from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2019. Children aged 0-15 who were registered to one of the eligible 1464 general practices and had a diagnostic test code in their clinical record were included. The primary outcome measures were (1) temporal changes in test rates measured by the average annual percent change, stratified by test type, gender, age group and deprivation level and (2) practice variability in test use, measured by the coefficient of variation.

Results

14 299 598 d

SUBMITTER: Thomas ET 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11499842 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature