Training levels and general blood work ordering by group
| No. (%) of participants | p Value* | ||
| Intervention (n=74) | Control (n=68) | ||
| Training level† | |||
| Staff | 8 (11) | 7 (10) | 0.80 |
| Senior resident | 7 (9) | 10 (15) | |
| Junior resident | 8 (11) | 6 (9) | |
| Clinical clerk | 51 (69) | 45 (66) | |
| Ordered additional tests | |||
| CBC | 70 (95) | 66 (97) | 0.68‡ |
| Electrolytes | 70 (95) | 65 (96) | >0.999‡ |
| APTT/INR | 71 (96) | 61 (90) | 0.19‡ |
| Calcium/magnesium | 56 (76) | 53 (78) | 0.75 |
| Lipids | 59 (80) | 57 (84) | 0.53 |
| Troponins | 52 (70) | 45 (66) | 0.60 |
| Creatine kinase | 40 (54) | 32 (47) | 0.40 |
| Digitalis level | 2 (3) | 1 (1) | >0.999‡ |
| Hepatic enzymes | 38 (51) | 28 (41) | 0.22 |
| Haemoglobin A1C | 46 (62) | 44 (65) | 0.75 |
| Number of tests ordered | |||
| Median number of tests (IQR) | 7 (6, 8) | 7 (6, 8) | 0.48 |
*Categorical variables compared by χ2 test unless otherwise indicated; medians compared by Wilcoxon rank-sum test.
†Senior resident=post graduate years 3 to 6, junior resident=post graduate years 1 or 2, clinical clerk=medical student years 3 or 4.
‡Fisher’s exact test used due to small expected cell sizes.
APTT, activated partial thromboplastin time; CBC, complete blood count; PT, prothrombin time; INR, international normalised ratio.