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Table 3 Impact of laboratory tests on diagnosing the correct underlying cause of anaemia by GPs. This table shows the impact of individual test results (within the complete set of tests) on the ability of the GP to diagnose the correct underlying cause of anaemia

From: Preventing overuse of laboratory diagnostics: a case study into diagnosing anaemia in Dutch general practice

Tests with numerical results

Test

Coefficient (log oddsa)

Exponentiated coefficient (odds)

p-value

ESR

−0.004

0.996

0.578

CRP

0.008

1.008

0.070

Haemoglobin

−0.216

0.806

0.395

Reticulocytes

0.176

0.192

0.560

Creatinine

0.006

1.006

0.222

eGFR

0.015

1.015

0.094

LDH

0.000

1.001

0.641

Serum iron

0.024

1.024

0.482

Folic acid

0.013

1.014

0.075

Vitamin B12

−0.000

1.000

0.509

Tests with categorical results

Test

Shift in the result category

Coefficient (log oddsa)

Exponentiated coefficient (odds)

p-value

MCV

Normal to high

1.600

4.954

0.006 **

MCV

Normal to low

−0.176

0.838

0.785

Ferritin

Low normal to high

−0.123

0.884

0.725

Ferritin

Low normal to high normal

−0.634

0.531

0.047 *

Ferritin

Low normal to low

1.231

3.425

0.030 *

Leukocytes

Normal to abnormal

−0.169

0.844

0.584

Thrombocytes

Normal to abnormal

0.126

1.134

0.730

Transferrin

Normal to high

0.246

1.279

0.741

Transferrin

Normal to low

−0.781

0.458

0.051

  1. CRP C-reactive protein, eGFR estimated glomerular filtration rate, ESR erythrocyte sedimentation rate, LDH lactate dehydrogenase, MCV mean corpuscular volume
  2. Significance levels: *** = 0.001; ** = 0.01; * = 0.05
  3. aFor a more detailed explanation on the interpretation of the values reported in this table, see Additional file 1