Table 1 Descriptive data for patients’, physicians’ and prescriptions’ characteristics
| Â | Colonoscopy | Gastroscopy | Head CT | Musculoskeletal CT | Head MRI | Musculoskeletal MRI | Overall | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Inappr. | Total | Inappr. | Total | Inappr. | Total | Inappr. | Total | Inappr. | Total | Inappr. | Total | Inappr. | |
Overall | 52,583 | 37.3% | 51,895 | 53.7% | 24,029 | 52.6% | 5221 | 58.6% | 109,689 | 31.3% | 79,561 | 27.5% | 322,978 | 37,0% |
Patient’s age | ||||||||||||||
 15–64 | 31,859 | 37.4% | 35,769 | 58.8% | 13,068 | 50.0% | 3543 | 57.1% | 82,844 | 30.3% | 64,883 | 27.2% | 231,966 | 36.3% |
 65–84 | 19,608 | 36.6% | 15,082 | 41.5% | 9554 | 55.2% | 1571 | 62.3% | 25,740 | 34.2% | 14,319 | 28.6% | 85,874 | 37.9% |
  > 84 | 1116 | 46.7% | 1044 | 56.1% | 1407 | 58.8% | 107 | 57.0% | 1105 | 38.5% | 358 | 41.3% | 5137 | 50,0% |
Patient’s sex | ||||||||||||||
 M | 24,542 | 35.8% | 22,650 | 56.0% | 10,856 | 53.6% | 2415 | 57.3% | 47,643 | 30.6% | 41,388 | 27.0% | 126,844 | 25.1% |
 F | 28,038 | 38.6% | 29,243 | 51.9% | 13,173 | 51.7% | 2806 | 59.8% | 62,042 | 31.8% | 38,168 | 28.0% | 173,470 | 37.4% |
Level of urgency | ||||||||||||||
 Urgent (U) | 205 | 100% | 272 | 100% | 278 | 84.9% | 69 | 100% | 553 | 100% | 277 | 100% | 1654 | 97.5% |
 Deferred urgency (B) | 4516 | 96.3% | 4260 | 94.3% | 2664 | 66.8% | 491 | 48.7% | 6077 | 92.8% | 2568 | 92.0% | 20,576 | 89.4% |
 Scheduled within 60 days (D) | 44,335 | 32.6% | 45,155 | 49.8% | 20,226 | 50.3% | 4,515 | 59.4% | 98,588 | 27.1% | 74,369 | 25.2% | 287,188 | 33.2% |
 Scheduled follow up (P) | 3527 | 17.4% | 2208 | 49.0% | 861 | 52.4% | 146 | 50.0% | 4,471 | 29.9% | 2347 | 20.7% | 13,560 | 29.8% |
Exemption | ||||||||||||||
 Providing test for free | 16,694 | 36.3% | 12,403 | 44.5% | 8371 | 54.0% | 1324 | 57.9% | 21,929 | 35.8% | 10,731 | 28.2% | 71,452 | 38.8% |
 Not providing test for free | 35,889 | 37.8% | 39,492 | 56.6% | 15,658 | 51.8% | 3897 | 58.9% | 87,760 | 30.1% | 68,830 | 27.4% | 251,526 | 36.4% |
Year of referral | ||||||||||||||
 2012 | 8237 | 45.6% | 8542 | 61.7% | 4572 | 57.3% | 993 | 69.0% | 20,816 | 38.8% | 15,842 | 35.6% | 59,002 | 44.2% |
 2013 | 8816 | 42.0% | 8732 | 56.2% | 3915 | 52.9% | 918 | 65.4% | 18,552 | 32.9% | 14,095 | 29.8% | 55,028 | 39.2% |
 2014 | 8897 | 39.8% | 8927 | 55.4% | 4025 | 51.8% | 913 | 58.5% | 19,861 | 31.2% | 14,729 | 27.9% | 57,352 | 37.3% |
 2015 | 8751 | 34.4% | 8387 | 52.6% | 4138 | 50.3% | 863 | 57.8% | 19,072 | 28.2% | 13,555 | 23.5% | 54,766 | 33.9% |
 2016 | 8589 | 31.2% | 8298 | 47.6% | 3505 | 48.7% | 718 | 51.4% | 14,141 | 26.8% | 9553 | 22.3% | 44,804 | 32.6% |
 2017 | 9293 | 31.5% | 9009 | 48.8% | 3874 | 53.5% | 816 | 46.0% | 17,247 | 27.5% | 11,787 | 22.2% | 52,026 | 32.9% |
Physician’s sex | ||||||||||||||
 M | 36,125 | 39.6% | 35,209 | 54.7% | 16,940 | 52.9% | 3661 | 59.9% | 73,697 | 32.1% | 54,699 | 28.1% | 220,331 | 38.0% |
 F | 16,107 | 32.4% | 16,336 | 51.6% | 6933 | 51.6% | 1515 | 55.4% | 35,132 | 29.3% | 24,282 | 26.1% | 100,305 | 34.6% |
Physician’s age | ||||||||||||||
 28–44 | 3390 | 29.3% | 3209 | 48.2% | 1473 | 50.0% | 317 | 44.8% | 7003 | 27.4% | 4528 | 24.8% | 19,920 | 32.5% |
 45–68 | 48,842 | 37.9% | 48,336 | 54.0% | 22,400 | 52.7% | 4859 | 59.5% | 101,826 | 31.5% | 74,453 | 27.6% | 300,716 | 37.2% |
GPs’ practice organization* | ||||||||||||||
 Primary care medical group | 14,822 | 35.5% | 14,205 | 49.4% | 6921 | 51.4% | 1448 | 54.5% | 31,600 | 27.8% | 23,541 | 23.8% | 92,537 | 33.5% |
 Primary care medical network | 33,736 | 38.5% | 33,654 | 55.8% | 15,357 | 52.9% | 3373 | 60.3% | 69,829 | 32.9% | 50,631 | 29.4% | 206,580 | 38.6% |
District of physician | ||||||||||||||
 Mountains | 2350 | 39.4% | 3345 | 54.6% | 1635 | 59.0% | 303 | 57.4% | 5753 | 36.5% | 3449 | 29.9% | 16,835 | 41.7% |
 Eastern plains | 6313 | 32.2% | 6346 | 51.2% | 2566 | 50.4% | 536 | 52.1% | 11,676 | 26.8% | 9018 | 24.2% | 36,455 | 33.4% |
 Northern plains | 6517 | 37.6% | 7048 | 54.5% | 3721 | 52.1% | 785 | 58.0% | 15,967 | 31.7% | 12,116 | 27.5% | 46,154 | 37.0% |
 Western hills | 5785 | 40.0% | 5381 | 54.0% | 3170 | 51.0% | 618 | 64.6% | 11,634 | 32.3% | 8924 | 29.9% | 35,512 | 38.5% |
 Provincial capital | 24,631 | 39.1% | 22,602 | 55.4% | 9483 | 53.4% | 2242 | 61.2% | 48,184 | 32.4% | 34,069 | 29.0% | 141,211 | 38.3% |
 Eastern hills | 6636 | 32.3% | 6823 | 48.9% | 3298 | 50.6% | 692 | 51.2% | 15,615 | 27.8% | 11,405 | 22.9% | 44,469 | 32.5% |