Frequency of total and repeat antinuclear antibody tests overall and by ordering physician type
| Variable | No. (%) of tests | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total n = 7136 | Family physicians n = 4643 | Rheumatologists n = 188 | Internal medicine n = 313 | Other n = 1992 | |
| No. of tests (% of total tests) | 587 357 (100.0) | 358 422 (61.0) | 65 071 (11.1) | 26 409 (4.5) | 137 455 (23.4) |
| Positive result | 126 322 (21.5) | 64 262 (17.9) | 28 393 (43.6) | 5884 (22.3) | 27 783 (20.2) |
| Repeat test within 12 mo of previous test (regardless of who ordered previous test) | 82 332 (14.0) | 32 994 (9.2) | 23 507 (36.1) | 4707 (17.8) | 21 124 (15.4) |
| Repeat test within 12 mo of previous test ordered by same practitioner type who ordered previous test* | 51 411 (8.8) | 25 213 (7.0) | 13 093 (20.1) | 1656 (6.3) | 11 071 (8.0) |
↵* Individual categories do not total 51 411 as practitioner specialty was unknown for 378 tests.