Temporal trends in use of tests in UK primary care, 2000-15: retrospective analysis of 250 million tests

Jack W O'Sullivan; Sarah Stevens; F D Richard Hobbs; Chris Salisbury; Paul Little; Ben Goldacre; Clare Bankhead; Jeffrey K Aronson; Rafael Perera; Carl Heneghan

doi:10.1136/bmj.k4666

Temporal trends in use of tests in UK primary care, 2000-15: retrospective analysis of 250 million tests

Jack W O'Sullivan, Sarah Stevens, F D Richard Hobbs, Chris Salisbury, Paul Little, Ben Goldacre, Clare Bankhead, Jeffrey K Aronson, Rafael Perera, Carl Heneghan

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Abstract

Objectives To assess the temporal change in test use in UK primary care and to identify tests with the greatest increase in use.

Design Retrospective cohort study.

Setting UK primary care.

Participants All patients registered to UK General Practices in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, 2000/1 to 2015/16.

Main outcome measures Temporal trends in test use, and crude and age and sex standardised rates of total test use and of 44 specific tests.

Results 262 974 099 tests were analysed over 71 436 331 person years. Age and sex adjusted use increased by 8.5% annually (95% confidence interval 7.6% to 9.4%); from 14 869 tests per 10 000 person years in 2000/1 to 49 267 in 2015/16, a 3.3-fold increase. Patients in 2015/16 had on average five tests per year, compared with 1.5 in 2000/1. Test use also increased statistically significantly across all age groups, in both sexes, across all test types (laboratory, imaging, and miscellaneous), and 40 of the 44 tests that were studied specifically.

Conclusion Total test use has increased markedly over time, in both sexes, and across all age groups, test types (laboratory, imaging, and miscellaneous) and for 40 of 44 tests specifically studied. Of the patients who underwent at least one test annually, the proportion who had more than one test increased significantly over time.

Original language	English
Article number	k4666
Number of pages	8
Journal	BMJ
Volume	363
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k4666
Publication status	Published - 28 Nov 2018

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title = "Temporal trends in use of tests in UK primary care, 2000-15: retrospective analysis of 250 million tests",

abstract = "Objectives To assess the temporal change in test use in UK primary care and to identify tests with the greatest increase in use.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting UK primary care.Participants All patients registered to UK General Practices in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, 2000/1 to 2015/16.Main outcome measures Temporal trends in test use, and crude and age and sex standardised rates of total test use and of 44 specific tests.Results 262 974 099 tests were analysed over 71 436 331 person years. Age and sex adjusted use increased by 8.5% annually (95% confidence interval 7.6% to 9.4%); from 14 869 tests per 10 000 person years in 2000/1 to 49 267 in 2015/16, a 3.3-fold increase. Patients in 2015/16 had on average five tests per year, compared with 1.5 in 2000/1. Test use also increased statistically significantly across all age groups, in both sexes, across all test types (laboratory, imaging, and miscellaneous), and 40 of the 44 tests that were studied specifically.Conclusion Total test use has increased markedly over time, in both sexes, and across all age groups, test types (laboratory, imaging, and miscellaneous) and for 40 of 44 tests specifically studied. Of the patients who underwent at least one test annually, the proportion who had more than one test increased significantly over time.",

author = "O'Sullivan, {Jack W} and Sarah Stevens and Hobbs, {F D Richard} and Chris Salisbury and Paul Little and Ben Goldacre and Clare Bankhead and Aronson, {Jeffrey K} and Rafael Perera and Carl Heneghan",

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T1 - Temporal trends in use of tests in UK primary care, 2000-15

T2 - retrospective analysis of 250 million tests

AU - O'Sullivan, Jack W

AU - Stevens, Sarah

AU - Hobbs, F D Richard

AU - Salisbury, Chris

AU - Little, Paul

AU - Goldacre, Ben

AU - Bankhead, Clare

AU - Aronson, Jeffrey K

AU - Perera, Rafael

AU - Heneghan, Carl

PY - 2018/11/28

Y1 - 2018/11/28

N2 - Objectives To assess the temporal change in test use in UK primary care and to identify tests with the greatest increase in use.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting UK primary care.Participants All patients registered to UK General Practices in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, 2000/1 to 2015/16.Main outcome measures Temporal trends in test use, and crude and age and sex standardised rates of total test use and of 44 specific tests.Results 262 974 099 tests were analysed over 71 436 331 person years. Age and sex adjusted use increased by 8.5% annually (95% confidence interval 7.6% to 9.4%); from 14 869 tests per 10 000 person years in 2000/1 to 49 267 in 2015/16, a 3.3-fold increase. Patients in 2015/16 had on average five tests per year, compared with 1.5 in 2000/1. Test use also increased statistically significantly across all age groups, in both sexes, across all test types (laboratory, imaging, and miscellaneous), and 40 of the 44 tests that were studied specifically.Conclusion Total test use has increased markedly over time, in both sexes, and across all age groups, test types (laboratory, imaging, and miscellaneous) and for 40 of 44 tests specifically studied. Of the patients who underwent at least one test annually, the proportion who had more than one test increased significantly over time.

AB - Objectives To assess the temporal change in test use in UK primary care and to identify tests with the greatest increase in use.Design Retrospective cohort study.Setting UK primary care.Participants All patients registered to UK General Practices in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink, 2000/1 to 2015/16.Main outcome measures Temporal trends in test use, and crude and age and sex standardised rates of total test use and of 44 specific tests.Results 262 974 099 tests were analysed over 71 436 331 person years. Age and sex adjusted use increased by 8.5% annually (95% confidence interval 7.6% to 9.4%); from 14 869 tests per 10 000 person years in 2000/1 to 49 267 in 2015/16, a 3.3-fold increase. Patients in 2015/16 had on average five tests per year, compared with 1.5 in 2000/1. Test use also increased statistically significantly across all age groups, in both sexes, across all test types (laboratory, imaging, and miscellaneous), and 40 of the 44 tests that were studied specifically.Conclusion Total test use has increased markedly over time, in both sexes, and across all age groups, test types (laboratory, imaging, and miscellaneous) and for 40 of 44 tests specifically studied. Of the patients who underwent at least one test annually, the proportion who had more than one test increased significantly over time.

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DO - 10.1136/bmj.k4666

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

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ER -

Temporal trends in use of tests in UK primary care, 2000-15: retrospective analysis of 250 million tests

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