National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
Ir J Med Sci. 2011 Sep;180(3):683-6. doi: 10.1007/s11845-011-0696-2. Epub 2011 Apr 7.
We sought to investigate whether hospital doctors in Ireland order too many expensive, unnecessary tests and analyse their motives for so doing.
A series of test patients modelled along guidelines as outlined by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence were presented to doctors in two university teaching hospitals. For each case, they were asked to identify the appropriate investigations.
Fifty-three interns on a surgical rotation completed the questionnaires. Forty-four percent (n = 50) of interns ordered the tests based on influences from the consultant leading their team, with only 24% citing their medical training as the critical reason for ordering a preoperative investigation. No intern considered cost to have any influence on their decision to book preoperative tests.
This study demonstrates that the previously well-documented international practice of overuse and unexplained variation in preoperative testing is also the norm in Ireland.
我们试图调查爱尔兰的医院医生是否开出了过多昂贵且不必要的检查，并分析他们这样做的动机。
根据国家临床卓越研究所（National Institute for Clinical Excellence）概述的指南，为两家大学教学医院的医生提供了一系列模拟的测试患者。对于每种情况，他们被要求确定适当的检查。
53 名外科轮转实习生完成了问卷调查。44%（n=50）的实习生根据指导他们团队的顾问的影响开出了这些检查，只有 24%的人表示他们的医学培训是开术前检查的关键原因。没有实习生认为成本会对他们决定预约术前检查产生影响。
这项研究表明，术前检查过度使用和无法解释的差异在国际上已经得到充分记录，这种情况在爱尔兰也是如此。
