Utilization of diagnostic services in the primary care

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the pattern of utilization of diagnostic tests by the Primary Care Services of the National Guard Housing Complex at Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and to correlate this pattern with other variables (age, gender, problem or diagnosis).

METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional medical record of the use of laboratory and x-ray facilities in the primary care setting using International Classification of Primary Care (ICPC-2) for encoding of data. The study was carried out at King Fahad National Guard Hospital covering a period of one year from January 1998 to December 1998.

RESULTS: Two hundred and forty-five diagnostic tests were ordered at 2290 patient visits. At least one test was requested for 6.5% encounters. Ten tests were ordered per hundred encounters. The total problems managed were 2592 and at least one test was ordered for 6% of problems managed. Sixty-five percent of the tests were ordered for females while 35% of the tests were ordered for males. Age-wise, the maximum number of tests was requested for children aged <3 years.

CONCLUSION: Compared to different international figures a lower rate of diagnostic testing has been found and the majority of tests were requested for children. Females rate was significantly higher compared to males.