ArticleBMJ open2018
Changes in the rate of publicly financed knee arthroscopies: an analysis of data from the Norwegian patient registry from 2012 to 2016.
Article in BMJ open, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effect of Physical Therapy vs Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy in People With Degenerative Meniscal Tears: Five-Year Follow-up of the ESCAPE Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Protocol for a national intervention programme aimed to reduce unwarranted variation and overuse of shoulder arthroscopy in Norway.BMJ open quality · 2025Article
- Reducing unwarranted variation: can a 'clinical dashboard' be helpful for hospital executive boards and top-level leaders?BMJ leader · 2024Article
- Article
- Managing unwarranted variation in hospital care - findings from a regional audit in Norway.Research in health services & regions · 2023Article
- "You're stuck in the middle here": a qualitative study of GPs' experiences of managing knee pain attributed to a degenerative meniscal tear.BMC primary care · 2023Article
- Declining trends in arthroscopic meniscus surgery and other arthroscopic knee procedures in Denmark: a nationwide register-based study.Acta orthopaedica · 2022Article
- Arthroscopic partial meniscectomy: did it ever work?Acta orthopaedica · 2021Article
- Can even experienced orthopaedic surgeons predict who will benefit from surgery when patients present with degenerative meniscal tears? A survey of 194 orthopaedic surgeons who made 3880 predictions.British journal of sports medicine · 2020Article
- Associations between utilization rates and patients' health: a study of spine surgery and patient-reported outcomes (EQ-5D and ODI).BMC health services research · 2020Observational
- Hypermobile Anterior Horn of the Lateral Meniscus: A Case Report and Literature Review.Case reports in orthopedics · 2020Article
- Impact of a national guideline on use of knee arthroscopy: An interrupted time-series analysis.International journal for quality in health care : journal of the International Society for Quality in Health Care · 2019Article
- Absence of cytotoxic and inflammatory effects following in vitro exposure of chondrogenically-differentiated human mesenchymal stem cells to adenosine, lidocaine and MgJournal of experimental orthopaedics · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo examine rates of publicly financed knee arthroscopic surgery in Norway between 2012 and 2016.
designAnalysis of anonymised data from the National Patient Registry.
interventionsBeginning in 2012, South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority implemented administrative measures to bring down rates of knee arthroscopy. Similar measures were not introduced in the other three Regional Health Authorities.
main outcome measuresWe analysed annual national rates of publicly financed knee arthroscopies in 2012 and 2016. We compared the rates in South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority with corresponding rates in the rest of the country. Variations by county, public hospital versus publicly reimbursed private hospital, gender and age were also assessed.
resultsThe overall annual rate of arthroscopic procedures declined by 33% from 2012 to 2016, from 310 to 207 per 100 000 inhabitants, respectively. Hospitals in South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority reported a 48% reduction, compared with mean 13% in the other three Regional Health Authorities. In public hospitals, rates decreased nationally by 42%, while rates in publicly reimbursed private hospitals increased by 12%. Rates in publicly reimbursed private hospitals decreased by 30% in South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority but increased by 63% in the other Regional Health Authorities. The proportion of patients ≥50 years (excluding meniscal repairs) in Norway was 54% in 2012 and fell to 46% in 2016. Average rates per county varied by a factor of 3:1.
conclusionWe report a marked overall reduction of knee arthroscopic procedures from 2012 to 2016 in publicly funded hospitals. The largest decrease was reported in South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority, and this coincides in time with implemented administrative measures. The results suggest that the trend of increasing rates of knee arthroscopies can be reversed through purposeful professional and administrative interventions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What 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.