ArticleCMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne1999
Use of vitamin B12 injections among elderly patients by primary care practitioners in Ontario.
Article in CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne, 1999. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Oral vitamin BThe Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2018Pooled it
- Oral vitamin B12 versus intramuscular vitamin B12 for vitamin B12 deficiency.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2005Pooled it
- Sensory Neuronopathy Revealing Severe Vitamin B12 Deficiency in a Patient with Anorexia Nervosa: An Often-Forgotten Reversible Cause.Nutrients · 2017Article
- Successful sublingual cobalamin treatment in a child with short-bowel syndrome.The journal of pediatric pharmacology and therapeutics : JPPT : the official journal of PPAG · 2014Article
- Effects of chemical and physical enhancement techniques on transdermal delivery of cyanocobalamin (vitamin B12) in vitro.Pharmaceutics · 2011Article
- Medical Practice Variation Among Primary Care Physicians: 1 Decade, 14 Health Services, and 3,238,498 Patient-Years.Annals of family medicineArticle
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundExcess use of parenteral vitamin B12 has been reported from audits of clinical practices. The authors assessed the use of vitamin B12 injections in patients aged 65 years and over in Ontario.
methodsA cross-sectional analysis was conducted that included all elderly people covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan who received insured services from general practitioners or family physicians (GP/FPs). For each practice the proportion of elderly patients who received regular vitamin B12 injections between July 1996 and June 1997 was calculated. The frequency of injections was determined for each patient receiving regular B12 replacement.
resultsOf the 1,196,748 elderly patients (mean age 74.8 [standard deviation 6.8], 58.0% female) treated by 14,177 GP/FPs, 23,651 (2.0%) received regular B12 injections. The rate of B12 injections per patient, standardized for age and sex, varied between practices (range 0%-48.6%). Although no authoritative sources support the practice, 3303 (19.8%) of the 16,707 patients receiving long-term parenteral therapy had, on average, overly frequent injections (more than 1 injection every 4 weeks). For 76 (12.3%) of the 617 practices with 10 or more patients receiving regular vitamin B12 injections, the mean injection frequency was greater than once every 4 weeks. The proportion of patients in these 617 practices who received overly frequent injections varied extensively (0%-100%).
interpretationOur findings indicate that some primary care physicians in Ontario administer unnecessary vitamin B12 injections to elderly patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
10439823PMC1230464W2101971894What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.