Title |
Motives for requesting an electrocardiogram in primary health care
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Published in |
Ciência & Saúde Coletiva, May 2015
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DOI | 10.1590/1413-81232015205.10062014 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Paulo Santos, Carlos Martins, Luísa Sá, Alberto Hespanhol, Luciana Couto |
Abstract |
The management of requests for diagnostic exams presents its own inherent characteristics in primary health care and reflects the specific nature of the physician-patient relationship. The scope of the study was to identify the reasons for requesting an electrocardiogram (ECG) in primary health care. A cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban region in Portugal, establishing the motives to ask for an ECG consecutively over two years, starting on 01/03/2007 using data retrieved from structured forms filled out by the physician at the moment of requesting the exam. A total of 870 ECGs of 817 patients were included. Symptoms manifested during the patient visit justified 48.5% of the ECGs, and follow-up of cardiovascular risk factors motivated 25.2%. A global health examination accounted for 22.8% of the requests. Multivariate analysis showed that the presence of symptoms (p < 0.001), presence of any cardiovascular risk factor (p = 0.002), hypertension (p < 0.001), diabetes (p = 0.002), and urgency (p < 0.001) were the main factors associated with the requests. The requests for electrocardiograms are predominantly for clinical reasons as a result of patients symptoms. The integration of expectations and beliefs of the patients is present in the decision-making process. |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
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Unknown | 1 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
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Student > Postgraduate | 1 | 100% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
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Medicine and Dentistry | 1 | 100% |