RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Can you use a sequential sample of patients as a substitute for a full practice audit?
JF Canadian Family Physician
JO Can Fam Physician
FD The College of Family Physicians of Canada
SP 1436
OP 1437.e5
VO 54
IS 10
A1 Graham Swanson
A1 Janusz Kaczorowski
YR 2008
UL http://www.cfp.ca/content/54/10/1436.abstract
AB OBJECTIVE To compare rates of mammography screening among women in family practices, based on a sequential sample of eligible women presenting to the practices during an 8-week period, with rates found in a full audit of all eligible patients. DESIGN Chart review. SETTING Twenty community-based family practices in south-central Ontario. PARTICIPANTS Family physicians and their female patients 52 to 71 years old who had had at least 1 visit to the office during the past 3 years. INTERVENTION Eligible patients were sampled by 2 approaches: sequential sampling of patients coming for appointments during an 8-week period and a full practice audit of all eligible women. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE Mammography rates found using the 2 approaches. RESULTS The mean time-appropriate rate of mammography screening based on the sequential sample was 66.4%. The mean time-appropriate rate of mammography screening for the full practice audit was 58.8%. The sequential sample rate was higher than that of the full audit by 7.6%; differences ranged from −6.5% to 24.9% among practices. Regression analysis indicated a positive and significant correlation between rates based on the data generated by the 2 different approaches (r2 = 0.50). CONCLUSION A rate of mammography screening based on a sequential sample can reasonably approximate the actual rate of mammography screening that would be found based on a full practice audit.