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Inappropriate use of clinical practices in Canada: a systematic review

Janet E Squires¹, Danielle Cho-Young², Laura D Aloisio²

¹Ottawa Hospital Research Institute (Squires, Cho-Young, Aloisio, Graham, Santos, Grimshaw); School of Epidemiology and Public Health (Graham), School of Nursing (Squires, Demery Varin, Greenough, Nadalin-Penno, Vandyk) and Department of Medicine (Grimshaw), University of Ottawa, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Department of Surgery (Bell), Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Dobrow), Department of Medicine (Levinson), and Department of Family and Community Medicine (Tepper), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Division of Community Health and Humanities (Bornstein), Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, Nfld.; Public Reports (Brien), Health Quality Ontario, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Decary), University of Montreal, Montréal, Que.; Faculty of Nursing (Estabrooks), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alta.; Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (Grinspun); Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (Hillmer), Toronto, Ont.; Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (Horsley), Ottawa, Ont.; Virginia Commonwealth University (Hu), Richmond, Va.; Family Medicine (Katz), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; BC Patient Safety and Quality Council (Krause), Vancouver, BC; Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics (Lavis) and McMaster Health Forum (Wilson), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Department of Community Health and Epidemiology (Levy), Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS; New Brunswick Health Council (Mancuso), Moncton, NB; Faculty of Medicine (Morgan), The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Health Quality Council of Alberta (Neuner), Calgary, Alta.; Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (Rader), Ottawa, Ont.; Alberta Health Services (Teare), Edmonton, Alta. janet.squires@uottawa.ca.

CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal = Journal De L'Association Medicale Canadienne

|March 1, 2022

Abstract

Background:

Inappropriate health care leads to negative patient experiences, poor health outcomes and inefficient use of resources. We aimed to conduct a systematic review of inappropriately used clinical practices in Canada.

Methods:

We searched multiple bibliometric databases and grey literature to identify inappropriately used clinical practices in Canada between 2007 and 2021. Two team members independently screened citations, extracted data and assessed methodological quality. Findings were synthesized in 2 categories: diagnostics and therapeutics. We reported ranges of proportions of inappropriate use for all practices. Medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs), based on the percentage of patients not receiving recommended practices (underuse) or receiving practices not recommended (overuse), were calculated. All statistics are at the study summary level.

Results:

We included 174 studies, representing 228 clinical practices and 28 900 762 patients. The median proportion of inappropriate care, as assessed in the studies, was 30.0% (IQR 12.0%-56.6%). Underuse (median 43.9%, IQR 23.8%-66.3%) was more frequent than overuse (median 13.6%, IQR 3.2%-30.7%). The most frequently investigated diagnostics were glycated hemoglobin (underused, range 18.0%-85.7%, n = 9) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (overused, range 3.0%-35.1%, n = 5). The most frequently investigated therapeutics were statin medications (underused, range 18.5%-71.0%, n = 6) and potentially inappropriate medications (overused, range 13.5%-97.3%, n = 9).

Interpretation:

We have provided a summary of inappropriately used clinical practices in Canadian health care systems. Our findings can be used to support health care professionals and quality agencies to improve patient care and safety in Canada.

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