title: [Pertinence of analysis requests in primary care].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To find the relevance of analytic tests requested by the Primary Care doctor.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive crossover study. Relevance was decided by the definition of criteria through consensus techniques.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three urban Health Centres in Area 4 of the City of Valencia.
  
  
  METHODS
  All the requests for analysis made by 31 general practitioners over four days were included in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Relevance was evaluated by four assessors. The reliability of the method used was calculated through the simple concordance index (0.708-0.842) and the Kappa index (0.421-0.661). 355 path analyses were examined. Three of the assessors found between 60 and 63% of the requests relevant; the fourth found 48% relevant. The most frequent reason for irrelevance was that the request did not fit the requisite procedure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Relevance of requests for analytic tests could be improved. The present study is a starting-point, which allows us to deduce that an improvement in tests' relevance could be achieved with greater circulation of information on agreed diagnostic and follow-up procedures.
authors.affiliation: Unidad de Investigación de Atención Primaria, Trinitat, Valencia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sanfélix Genovés
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pereiró Berenguer
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Oterino de la Fuente
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Altarriba Cano
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Monzó
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pérez de los Cobos
mesh_terms: D018592:Cross-Over Studies; D003955:Diagnostic Tests, Routine / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation