Overuse of Repeat Upper Endoscopy in the Veterans Health Administration: A Retrospective Analysis

Americans undergo ∼7 million esophagogastroduodenoscopies (EGDs) annually, and one-third of Medicare beneficiaries undergo a repeat EGD within 3 years. As many as 43% of these repeat EGDs are inappropriate. We aimed to determine the rate of repeat inappropriate EGD within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), and identify factors associated with repeat EGD.

We conducted retrospective analyses of Veterans undergoing an index EGD at 159 VHA facilities between 1 January 2003 and 30 June 2007. We excluded Veterans without regular use of VHA for health care or 5 years of follow-up. Appropriateness of repeat EGDs was classified based on diagnostic and procedure codes into three categories: Likely Appropriate, Possible Overuse, and Probable Overuse. The proportion of repeat EGDs in each category was tabulated. Multilevel logistic regression was performed to estimate the impact of patient-level and site-level factors on the odds of repeat EGD.

Of the 235,855 included Veterans, 85,690 (36.3%) underwent a repeat EGD within 5 years. Of the repeat EGDs, 42,412 (49.5%) were Likely Appropriate, 35,503 (41.4%) represented Possible Overuse, and 7,756 (9.1%) represented Probable Overuse. Patients with more frequent encounters with primary care providers and access to facilities performing EGD and with greater complexity of services were more likely to receive repeat EGD, regardless of whether the repeat EGD was appropriate or overuse. Women were slightly more likely to undergo repeat EGD in Probable Overuse situations.

Overuse of repeat EGD is common in VHA despite the absence of financial incentives that promote overuse. Efforts are needed to better understand the motivations for overuse and barriers to appropriate use, and to promote appropriate use of repeat EGD.