title: Effectiveness of Gatekeepers in Determining the Appropriate Use of Brain MRI/MRA Tests.
abstract: The purpose of the study is to examine whether, among patients who visited hospitals and underwent brain MRI or MRA scan tests, there was a relationship between the existence of clinically significant abnormal findings and the relevance of primary care physicians' referrals. A case-control study was carried out at six teaching hospitals in Japan. We identified cases with significant abnormal MRI/MRA findings from radiologists' reports based on certain explicit criteria and controls with outpatients who underwent MRI/MRA scans but did not have stroke. We also collected clinical data independently from medical records. The findings of 156 cases and 721 controls were collected for the analysis. A multivariate analysis adjusted by age group, sex, and the number of comorbidity factors showed that those who had visited the hospitals after referral were more likely to have significant abnormal findings in their MRI/MRA scan results (odds ratio [OR] = 1.6, 95% CI: 1.1 to 2.4). The present study suggests that referral from gatekeepers such as primary care physicians is effective in determining the appropriate use of brain MRI/MRA tests for hospital outpatients.
authors: Division of Clinical Epidemiology, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, 2-5-1 Higashigaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8602, Japan.
authors: Seiji
authors: 0000-0002-3833-6699
authors: S
authors: Bito
authors: Division of Clinical Epidemiology, National Hospital Organization Tokyo Medical Center, 2-5-1 Higashigaoka, Meguro-ku, Tokyo 152-8602, Japan.
authors: Shinji
authors: 0000-0003-0324-5719
authors: S
authors: Matsumura
authors: Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Jichi Medical University, 3311-1 Yakushiji, Shimotsuke-shi, Tochigi-ken 329-0498, Japan.
authors: Kazuhiko
authors: K
authors: Kotani
authors: Department of Epidemiology and Healthcare Research, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Yoshida-Konoe-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8501, Japan.
authors: Shunichi
authors: 0000-0001-7199-1495
authors: S
authors: Fukuhara