Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess the frequency of unjustified reordering of laboratory tests (thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), glycated hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), and vitamin D (VIT D) and its associated consequences, along with providing beneficial methods to overcome this concern.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 804 patient records from the primary healthcare centers of the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs in the Western region from October 2020 to October 2021. A stratified sampling technique was used, and patient records were divided into 3 groups based on 3 tests (TSH, HbA1c, and VIT D). Groups 1 (TSH) and 2 (HbA1c) included males from the age of ≥ 18 years and females from the age of ≥ 50 years. Group 3 (VIT D) included patients aged≥ 18 years for both genders.
Results: The statistical analysis showed that the overall unjustification of the three tests of both genders accounted for 42.5%, with the HbA1c test being the most unjustified reordered test (53.35%). Among each gender, males showed that the HbA1c test was the highest (51.74%), whereas the TSH test was the highest (57.89%) in females. There was a significant association between the TSH test and gender, with a p-value

Key words: Frequency, unjustified, reordering, laboratory tests, Saudi Arabia.