Table 5.
The effect of trainee status on the selection of management choice by clinical scenario via ordinal regression
| Univariate analysis | Multivariable analysis | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clinical scenario | OR | 95% CI | p-value | OR | 95% CI | p-value |
| 1. 31 years of age, TSH 7.0, prior TSH 3.6 | 0.86 | [0.50 – 1.47] | 0.291 | 0.74 | [0.40 – 1.35] | 0.331 |
| 2. 31 years of age, TSH 7.0 | 0.79 | [0.46 – 1.34] | 0.381 | 0.76 | [0.41 – 1.41] | 0.389 |
| 3. 31 years of age, TSH 7.0, desire for fertility | 0.36 | [0.21 – 0.63] | <0.001 | 0.43 | [0.23 – 0.80] | 0.007 |
| 4. 31 years of age, TSH 7.0, weight gain and depressed mood | 1.09 | [0.61 – 1.96] | 0.777 | 0.93 | [0.48 – 1.80] | 0.820 |
| 5. 31 years of age, TSH 12.1, prior TSH 10.4 | 0.54 | [0.30 – 0.95] | 0.033 | 0.64 | [0.33 – 1.24] | 0.187 |
| 6. 31 years of age, TSH 7.0, history of hypertension and obesity | 0.89 | [0.53 – 1.48] | 0.652 | 0.93 | [0.52 – 1.69] | 0.818 |
| 7. 72 years of age, TSH 7.0 | 0.55 | [0.31 – 0.98] | 0.044 | 0.40 | [0.21 – 0.78] | 0.007 |
| 8. 72 years of age, TSH 12.1, prior TSH 10.4 | 0.50 | [0.29 – 0.86] | 0.012 | 0.47 | [0.25 – 0.88] | 0.019 |
| 9. 72 years of age, TSH 7.0, history of hypertension and obesity | 1.03 | [0.61 – 1.74] | 0.908 | 0.85 | [0.47 – 1.55] | 0.609 |
Responses were ordered from most to least conservative. Thus an OR <1 signals being a trainee favored a more conservative approach. In all scenarios, the patient is female and has a FT4 of 1.2 ng/dL prior TSH level of 6.8 mIU/L unless indicated otherwise. Multivariable analysis included sex, race/ethnicity, and specialty as covariates. All TSH levels are in mIU/L. Abbreviations: TSH: thyroid stimulating hormone; FT4 OR: odds ratio; CI: confidence interval.