Physician Variation in Diagnostic Testing for Low Back Pain. Who You See Is What You Get
✍ Scribed by Daniel C. Cherkin; Richard A. Deyo; Kimberly Wheeler; Marcia A. Ciol
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1994
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 732 KB
- Volume
- 37
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0004-3591
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
This study examined patterns of diagnostic test use for patients with low back pain. Three specific questions were addressed: 1) What tests do physicians recommend for patients with 3 common types of low back pain? 2) Do physicians in various specialties differ in the tests they would order? and 3) How appropriate are physicians' choices of tests, based on current medical knowledge and expert recommendations?
Methods. A stratified national random sample of 2,604 physicians in 8 specialties was mailed questionnaires asking about the tests they would order for hypothetical patients with acute back pain, sciatica, or chronic low back pain. Physicians were also asked which procedures they generally used to evaluate suspected lumbar nerve root compression. These responses were