Table 3.
Demographics, radiation burden, and adherence to best practices by world region
| Africa | Asia | Europe | Latin America | North America | Oceania | Total | P-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Countries | 6 | 18 | 27 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 65 | n/a |
| Laboratories | 12 | 69 | 102 | 36 | 55 | 34 | 308 | n/a |
| Patients/lab, mean (SD) | 29.0 (23.7) | 21.3 (23.9) | 23.3 (32.8) | 31.6 (37.7) | 38.9 (38.8) | 12.9 (9.8) | 25.7 (31.6) | 0.002 |
| Patients/lab, median (IQR) | 19 (10–48) | 15 (6–29) | 15 (8–28) | 12 (8–42) | 31 (14–46) | 9.5 (6–17) | 16 (8–33) | <0.001 |
| Average ED (mSv), mean (SD) | 9.3 (3.9) | 11.7 (4.1) | 8.7 (3.1) | 13.0 (2.8) | 12.0 (3.6) | 10.3 (2.4) | 10.7 (3.7) | <0.001 |
| Average ED (mSv), median | 9.4 | 11.4 | 8.8 | 12.8 | 12.1 | 11.4 | 10.9 | <0.001 |
| Average ED (mSv), IQR | 6.3–13.6 | 9.7–13.0 | 6.3–10.8 | 11.3–14.9 | 9.5–13.3 | 9.4–11.7 | 8.4–12.9 | n/a |
| Average ED (mSv), range | 3.5–15.2 | 2.2–21.5 | 3.1–18.0 | 7.8–18.6 | 3.7–24.4 | 3.1–14.3 | 2.2–24.4 | n/a |
| Number with median ED ≤9 mSv | 5 (42%) | 12 (17%) | 52 (51%) | 4 (11%) | 11 (20%) | 7 (21%) | 91 (30%) | <0.001 |
| QI score, mean (SD) | 6.3 (1.2) | 5.0 (1.1) | 6.2 (1.2) | 4.9 (1.0) | 4.7 (1.2) | 5.5 (0.7) | 5.4 (1.3) | 0.02 |
| QI score, median (IQR) | 6.5 (5.5–7) | 5 (4–6) | 6 (5–7) | 5 (4–5) | 5 (4–6) | 6 (5–6) | 5 (5–6) | <0.001 |
| QI score | ||||||||
| 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (3%) | 1 (2%) | 0 | 2 (1%) | |
| 3 | 0 | 4 (6%) | 0 | 0 | 11 (20%) | 0 | 15 (5%) | |
| 4 | 1 (8%) | 18 (26%) | 10 (10%) | 12 (33%) | 12 (22%) | 3 (9%) | 56 (18%) | |
| 5 | 2 (17%) | 29 (42%) | 20 (20%) | 15 (42%) | 14 (25%) | 13 (38%) | 93 (30%) | |
| 6 | 3 (25%) | 12 (17%) | 28 (27%) | 6 (17%) | 16 (29%) | 17 (50%) | 82 (27%) | |
| 7 | 4 (33%) | 3 (4%) | 27 (26%) | 2 (5%) | 1 (2%) | 1 (3%) | 38 (12%) | |
| 8 | 2 (17%) | 3 (4%) | 17 (17%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 (7%) | |
| Number with ≥6 best practices | 9 (75%) | 18 (25%) | 72 (71%) | 8 (22%) | 17 (31%) | 18 (53%) | 142 (46%) | <0.001 |
| Patients | 348 | 1469 | 2381 | 1139 | 2135 | 439 | 7911 | n/a |
| Female | 135 (39%) | 559 (38%) | 949 (40%) | 492 (43%) | 921 (43%) | 198 (45%) | 3254 (41%) | 0.005 |
| Age, mean (SD) | 60.2 (11.0) | 61.8 (12.5) | 65.3 (11.1) | 62.4 (11.5) | 65.8 (12.3) | 65.4 (12.6) | 64.1 (12.0) | <0.001 |
| Weight (kg), mean (SD) | 81.2 (15.8) | 71.6 (15.7) | 80.0 (16.7) | 77.8 (16.0) | 87.2 (21.5) | 83.0 (20.1) | 80.2 (18.7) | <0.001 |
| ED (mSv), mean (SD) | 9.7 (5.5) | 11.4 (4.8) | 7.9 (3.5) | 11.8 (4.1) | 10.5 (4.5) | 9.3 (3.7) | 10.0 (4.5) | <0.001 |
| ED (mSv), median | 9.1 | 11.4 | 8.0 | 12.1 | 11.4 | 10.1 | 10.2 | <0.001 |
| ED (mSv), IQR | 5.1–15.6 | 9.2–13.5 | 5.1–10.1 | 8.4–14.6 | 8.0–12.9 | 6.5–11.7 | 6.7–12.7 | n/a |
| ED (mSv), range | 1.8–20.0 | 1.0–35.6 | 0.8–25.9 | 2.2–27.1 | 0.9–28.1 | 0.9–17.9 | 0.8–35.6 | n/a |
| Number with ED ≤9 mSv | 173 (50%) | 358 (24%) | 1420 (60%) | 304 (27%) | 649 (30%) | 161 (37%) | 3065 (39%) | <0.001 |
| Stress-only tests | 109 (31%) | 272 (19%) | 461 (19%) | 54 (4.7%) | 54 (2.5%) | 55 (13%) | 1005 (13%) | <0.001 |
Quality index (QI) is the number of best practices adhered to by a laboratory. Mean and median QI values are based on laboratory scores in each region. Effective dose (ED) mean and median estimates are based on patient estimates in each region.
NC, nuclear cardiology; SD, standard deviation; IQR, interquartile range.