http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/ en-us Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT Mon, 25 Mar 2013 21:44:18 GMT Silverchair editor@archinte.jamanetwork.com webmaster@archinte.jamanetwork.com http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1656535 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT Kroenke K. <span class="paragraphSection">Diagnostic testing is enticing to patients and clinicians. It appears more objective and less pedestrian than a simple clinical interview and physical examination. Medical certainty is seldom solidified until all the tests results are in. Patients anxiously await the telephone call or letter announcing “your tests are all normal.” Indeed, the grander the technology, the more alluring. However, the testing imperative can become addictive. As noted in a 1991 cautionary essay:</span> 173 6 416 417 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.11 http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1656535 http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1656539 Mon, 25 Mar 2013 00:00:00 GMT Rolfe A, Burton C. <span class="paragraphSection"><div class="boxTitle">Importance</div>Diagnostic tests are often ordered by physicians in patients with a low pretest probability of disease to rule out conditions and reassure the patient.<div class="boxTitle">Objective</div>To study the effect of diagnostic tests on worry about illness, anxiety, symptom persistence, and subsequent use of health care resources in patients with a low pretest probability of serious illness.<div class="boxTitle">Evidence Acquisition</div>Systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched MEDLINE, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL, and ProQuest Dissertations electronic databases through December 31, 2011, for eligible randomized controlled trials. We independently identified studies for inclusion and extracted the data. Disagreements were resolved by discussion. We performed meta-analysis if heterogeneity was low or moderate (I² < 50%).<div class="boxTitle">Results</div>Fourteen randomized controlled trials that included 3828 patients met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed with outcomes categorized as short term (≤3 months) or long term (>3 months). Three trials showed no overall effect of diagnostic tests on illness worry (odds ratio, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.55-1.39]), and 2 showed no effect on nonspecific anxiety (standardized mean difference, 0.06 [−0.16 to 0.28]). Ten trials showed no overall long-term effect on symptom persistence (odds ratio, 0.99 [95% CI, 0.85-1.15]). Eleven trials measured subsequent primary care visits. We observed a high level of heterogeneity among trials (I² = 80%). Meta-analysis after exclusion of outliers suggested a small reduction in visits after investigation (odds ratio, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.62-0.96]).<div class="boxTitle">Conclusions and Relevance</div>Diagnostic tests for symptoms with a low risk of serious illness do little to reassure patients, decrease their anxiety, or resolve their symptoms, although the tests may reduce further primary care visits. Further research is needed to maximize reassurance from medically necessary tests and to develop safe strategies for managing patients without testing when an abnormal result is unlikely.</span> 173 6 407 416 10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.2762 http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1656539