[Pertinence of analysis requests in primary care].
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.
Sanfélix Genovés
J
J
Unidad de Investigación de Atención Primaria, Trinitat, Valencia.
Pereiró Berenguer
I
I
Oterino de la Fuente
D
D
Altarriba Cano
M L
ML
Monzó
M J
MJ
Pérez de los Cobos
J
J
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