Effectiveness of Gatekeepers in Determining the Appropriate Use of Brain MRI/MRA Tests
Table 3
Relationship between referrals from primary care doctors and significant abnormal findings upon MRI: results of logistic regression analysis.
Odds ratio [95% confidence interval]
All samples ()Note 3
Only patients with headaches as a chief complaint ()Note 4
Females (against males)
0.5 [0.3–0.7]
0.6 [0.3–1.4]
70 years old and older (compared to 19 years old and younger)
1.5 [1.0–2.1]
1.1 [0.5–2.7]
Existence of a smoking habit (compared to nonexistence)
0.4 [0.2–0.8]
0.2 [0.02–1.5]
The number of addictions (compared to no addiction)
1.3 [1.1–1.6]
1.3 [0.9–2.1]
Existence of referrals from primary care doctors (compared to nonexistence)
1.6 [1.1–2.4]
1.9 [0.8–4.4]
Note 3: nine of all 877 samples dropped out of the analysis because of missing data in the model variables. Note 4: one of all 248 samples dropped out of the analysis because of missing data in the model variables.
