ArticleClinical rheumatology2024
Mitigating overuse of antinuclear antibody (ANA) testing through educational intervention: a study in internal medicine and neurology departments.
Article in Clinical rheumatology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Antinuclear Antibodies in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review of Observational Studies.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Autoantibody Ordering Patterns Across a Tertiary Hospital: A Retrospective Audit.Open access rheumatology : research and reviews · 2026Article
- Antinuclear antibodies as a risk factor for ischemic stroke or death in elderly patients with atrial fibrillation despite anticoagulation.Clinical rheumatology · 2025Article
- A 1-year review of anti-Ro/La autoantibody testing in an obstetric population.Irish journal of medical science · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION/
objectivesOveruse of antinuclear antibody (ANA) tests leads to increased costs, false positives, and unnecessary treatments. This study evaluated ANA overuse in internal medicine and neurology departments and assessed the impact of an educational intervention.
methodThis quality improvement educational intervention study examined ANA test overuse in five internal medicine departments and one neurology department at a university-affiliated medical center. The educational intervention included a session focusing on ANA testing appropriateness. Outcome measures comprised the ANA/new patient ratio (APR) and the percentage of positive ANA test results. Outcomes were compared between the pre- and post-intervention periods (both 6 months).
resultsThe intervention took place in December 2021. The APR decreased from 43% in the pre-educational intervention period to 27% in the post-intervention period in the neurology department (odds ratio [OR] 0.49, confidence interval [95% CI] 0.37-0.63, P < 0.0001) and from 2.6% to 2.2% in the internal medicine departments (OR 0.89, 95% CI 0.73-1.10, P = 0.28). The percentage of positive ANA tests increased from 43% pre-intervention to 53% in the post-intervention period (OR 1.49, 95% CI 0.90-2.46, P = 0.12) in the neurology department and from 48% to 59% (OR 1.56, 95% CI 0.99-2.44, P = 0.0543) in the internal medicine departments.
conclusionA simple educational intervention reduced unnecessary ANA testing in the neurology department but not in internal medicine departments, improving patient selection and potential cost savings. The results underscore the importance of targeted education to promote evidence-based behavior among healthcare professionals. Further research with longer follow-up is needed to assess the sustainability of these improvements.
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