Trial reportThe British journal of radiology2012
The effect of waiting times from general practitioner referral to MRI or orthopaedic consultation for the knee on patient-based outcomes.
Trial report in The British journal of radiology, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of Knee Quality of Life 26-Item Questionnaire into Spanish in Patellofemoral Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- [Artificial intelligence in musculoskeletal radiology : Current advances and emerging frontiers].Orthopadie (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Device Design and Advanced Computed Tomography of 3D Printed Radiopaque Composite Scaffolds and Meniscus.Advanced functional materials · 2024Article
- Article
- Factors associated with No-Shows and rescheduling MRI appointments.BMC health services research · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesThe purpose of this study was to test for the effect of waiting time from general practitioner (GP) referral to MRI or to orthopaedic consultation on outcomes of patients with knee problems, and to test whether any characteristics of trial participants predicted waiting time to MRI or orthopaedics.
methodsWe undertook secondary analyses of data on 553 participants from a randomised trial who were recruited from 163 general practices during November 2002 to October 2004.
resultsOf the patients allocated to MRI, 263 (94%) had an MRI, and of those referred to orthopaedics, 236 (86%) had an orthopaedic consultation. The median (interquartile range) waiting time in days from randomisation to MRI was 41.0 (21.0-71.0) and to orthopaedic appointment was 78.5 (54.5-167.5). Waiting time was found to have no significant effect on patient outcome for both the Short Form 36-item (SF-36) physical functioning score (p=0.570) and the Knee Quality of Life 26-item (KQoL-26) physical functioning score (p=0.268). There was weak evidence that males waited less time for their MRI (p=0.049) and older patients waited longer for their orthopaedic referral (p=0.049). For patients who resided in the catchment areas of some centres there were significantly longer waiting times for both MRI and orthopaedic appointment.
conclusionWhere patients reside is a strong predictor of waiting time for access to services such as MRI or orthopaedics. There is no evidence to suggest, however, that this has a significant effect on physical well-being in the short term for patients with knee problems.
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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.