The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners
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This study was based in an isolated rural practice, and it identified 107 frequent attenders (1.95% of the practice population), who created five times the consultation workload of a similar group matched for age and sex. The general practitioners (GPs) classified 60 (56%) of these patients as attending for clinically inexplicable reasons. This subgroup had higher rates of long-term medication and hospital referral, and more free access to primary health care. The study also identified very high levels of kinship and relationship by marriage within this group (47%).
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Understanding laboratory testing in diagnostic uncertainty: a qualitative study in general practice.
Better knowledge of the professional's motives for ordering laboratory tests in the case of diagnostic uncertainty may lead to interventions directed at reducing unnecessary testing. ⋯ The decision to request laboratory testing is the result of a complex interaction of considerations that are often conflicting. Designers of interventions meant to improve the ordering of tests should be aware of the numerous determinants, and take contextual variables into account.