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Variation in Antenatal Testing Over Time and Between Clinic Settings
J. Leighton Read, MD;
Robert S. Stern, MD;
L. A. Thibodeau, PhD;
Daniel E. Geer, Jr, SB;
Henry Klapholz, MEE, MD
JAMA. 1983;249(12):1605-1609.
Abstract
Variation in the use of diagnostic procedures may be due to characteristics of patients, physicians, or their environment. Testing rates for 24-hour urinary estriol levels (EST), diagnostic ultrasound, and antepartum fetal heart rate testing (AFHRT) were examined in 8,527 deliveries from 1975 through 1978. Over the period, utilization of EST remained constant at about 7% of deliveries, while ultrasound increased from 20% to 35% and AFHRT, from 7% to 12%. This increase persisted after stratifying patients on a multivariate confounder score using 45 items of clinical information. Those receiving antenatal care in a hospital-based group practice or a resident-staffed community clinic were more likely to be tested than patients seen in private offices or a prepaid group practice.
(JAMA 1983;249:1605-1609)
Author Affiliations
From the West Roxbury (Mass) Veterans Administration Medical Center (Dr Read); Departments of Medicine (Dr Stern and Mr Geer) and Obstetrics and Gynecology (Dr Klapholz) and the Charles Dana Research Foundation, Beth Israel Hospital, Boston; and Center for the Analysis of Health Practices (Drs Read, Stern, and Thibodeau, and Mr Geer), Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; and Applied Management Sciences, Silver Spring, Md (Dr Thibodeau).
Footnotes
Reprint requests to Center for the Analysis of Health Practices, Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115 (Dr Read).
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