Epstein A M, McNeil B J
Soc Sci Med. 1985;21(10):1071-5. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(85)90162-5.
To investigate the relationship of patient characteristics and the use of ambulatory testing services, we examined patterns of test use for 351 patients with chronic uncomplicated hypertension, cared for by 30 private practice internists. We studied the use of visits and diagnostic tests in relation to patients' sex, marital status, obesity, employment status, occupational class, insurance coverage and severity of illness in terms of age, extent of blood pressure elevation and number of medications used in treatment. Testing services accounted for 63% of the total expenditure for testing and physician services. Females and patients with greater severity of disease had higher visit rates, and age was significantly related to increased test use. Marital status, obesity and socioeconomic characteristics were not strongly associated with patterns of testing. Our results suggest that patterns of testing for hypertensive patients are related to severity of illness in terms of age but not to patients' socioeconomic characteristics.
为了研究患者特征与动态检测服务使用之间的关系，我们调查了30位私人执业内科医生所照料的351例慢性单纯性高血压患者的检测使用模式。我们研究了就诊和诊断检测的使用情况与患者的性别、婚姻状况、肥胖、就业状况、职业类别、保险覆盖范围以及疾病严重程度（依据年龄、血压升高程度和治疗中使用的药物数量）之间的关系。检测服务占检测和医生服务总支出的63%。女性和疾病严重程度较高的患者就诊率更高，并且年龄与检测使用增加显著相关。婚姻状况、肥胖和社会经济特征与检测模式没有密切关联。我们的结果表明，高血压患者的检测模式与疾病严重程度（依据年龄）相关，但与患者的社会经济特征无关。
