Evidence map›Paper›PMID 25353250›Full record

ArticleRadiology2015

Variations in the intensive use of head CT for elderly patients with hemorrhagic stroke.

Kimon Bekelis, Elliott S Fisher, Nicos Labropoulos, Weiping Zhou, Jonathan Skinner

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Radiology, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Kimon BekelisFrom the Section of Neurosurgery (K.B.) and Department of Medicine (E.S.F.), Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, One Medical Center Drive, Lebanon, NH 03755; Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, Lebanon, NH (E.S.F., W.Z., J.S.); Geisel School of Medicine (E.S.F.) and Department of Economics (J.S.), Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH; and Department of Radiology, Stony Brook University Medical Center, Stony Brook, NY (N.L.).
Elliott S Fisher
Nicos Labropoulos
Weiping Zhou
Jonathan Skinner

Funding

UNDERSTANDING AND IMPROVING EPISODE-BASED HOSPITAL CAREP01AG019783 · NIA · DARTMOUTH COLLEGE · PI Alistair James O'MALLEY · 2001 to 2026
$52.9M
NIA NIH HHS P01 AG019783
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo investigate the variability in head computed tomographic (CT) scanning in patients with hemorrhagic stroke in U.S. hospitals, its association with mortality, and the number of different physicians consulted. MATERIALS AND

methodsThe study was approved by the Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects at Dartmouth College. A retrospective analysis of the Medicare fee-for-service claims data was performed for elderly patients admitted for hemorrhagic stroke in 2008-2009, with 1-year follow-up through 2010. Risk-adjusted primary outcome measures were mean number of head CT scans performed and high-intensity use of head CT (six or more head CT scans performed in the year after admission). We examined the association of high-intensity use of head CT with the number of different physicians consulted and mortality.

resultsA total of 53 272 patients (mean age, 79.6 years; 31 377 women [58.9%]) with hemorrhagic stroke were identified in the study period. The mean number of head CT scans conducted in the year after admission for stroke was 3.4; 8737 patients (16.4%) underwent six or more scans. Among the hospitals with the highest case volume (more than 50 patients with hemorrhagic stroke), risk-adjusted rates ranged from 8.0% to 48.1%. The correlation coefficient between number of physicians consulted and rates of high-intensity use of head CT was 0.522 (P < .01) for all hospitals and 0.50 (P < .01) for the highest-volume hospitals. No improvement in 1-year mortality was found for patients undergoing six or more head CT scans (odds ratio, 0.84; 95% confidence interval: 0.69, 1.02).

conclusionHigh rates of head CT use for patients with hemorrhagic stroke are frequently observed, without an association with decreased mortality. A higher number of physicians consulted was associated with high-intensity use of head CT.

Indexed as

AgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHumansIntracranial HemorrhagesMaleMedicarePractice Patterns, Physicians'Retrospective StudiesRiskRisk FactorsStrokeTomography, X-Ray ComputedUnited States

Identifiers

PMID25353250
PMCPMC5533596

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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.