Table 4.
Family physicians’ perceived wait times for diagnostic imaging, by province
| WAIT TIME FOR INVESTIGATION | FULL SAMPLE, N (%) (N=1054)* | PROVINCIAL COMPARISONS | FDR P VALUE | LOGISTIC REGRESSION | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|||||||
| ONTARIO, N (%) (N=597)* | MANITOBA, N (%) (N=228)* | BRITISH COLUMBIA, N (%) (N=229)* | ONTARIO, OR (REFERENCE) | MANITOBA, OR (95% CI) | BRITISH COLUMBIA, OR (95% CI) | |||
| Upper GI endoscopy | < .001 | |||||||
| • ≤ 4 wk | 262 (31.1) | 186 (39.8) | 31 (15.8) | 45 (25.1) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| • > 4 to 12 wk | 386 (45.8) | 224 (48.0) | 95 (48.5) | 67 (37.4) | 1.00 | 3.53 (2.12–5.88) | 1.43 (0.92–2.23) | |
| • > 12 wk | 194 (23.0) | 57 (12.2) | 70 (35.7) | 67 (37.4) | 1.00 | 10.15 (5.67–18.17) | 5.58 (3.38–9.21) | |
| Flexible sigmoidoscopy | < .001 | |||||||
| • ≤ 4 wk | 239 (33.6) | 166 (43.9) | 35 (20.5) | 38 (23.5) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| • > 4 to 12 wk | 302 (42.5) | 168 (44.4) | 75 (43.9) | 59 (36.4) | 1.00 | 2.83 (1.69–4.74) | 1.75 (1.09–2.82) | |
| • > 12 wk | 170 (23.9) | 44 (11.6) | 61 (35.7) | 65 (40.1) | 1.00 | 8.80 (4.83–16.02) | 7.33 (4.26–12.61) | |
| Colonoscopy | < .001 | |||||||
| • ≤ 4 wk | 213 (25.5) | 156 (33.5) | 24 (12.3) | 33 (18.8) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| • > 4 to 12 wk | 373 (44.6) | 239 (51.3) | 85 (43.6) | 49 (27.8) | 1.00 | 2.93 (1.68–5.12) | 1.08 (0.66–1.79) | |
| • > 12 wk | 251 (30.0) | 71 (15.2) | 86 (44.1) | 94 (53.4) | 1.00 | 10.79 (5.93–19.62) | 7.23 (4.36–12.01) | |
| X-ray scan | .40 | |||||||
| • ≤ 2 wk | 1037 (99.6) | 589 (99.8) | 223 (99.1) | 225 (99.6) | NA | NA | NA | |
| • > 2 wk | 4 (0.4) | 1 (0.2) | 2 (0.9) | 1 (0.4) | NA | NA | NA | |
| CT | < .001 | |||||||
| • ≤ 2 wk | 360 (34.9) | 246 (41.9) | 61 (27.4) | 53 (24.0) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| • > 2 to 4 wk | 374 (36.3) | 228 (38.8) | 65 (29.2) | 81 (36.7) | 1.00 | 1.48 (0.95–2.30) | 1.83 (1.22–2.75) | |
| • > 4 wk | 297 (28.8) | 113 (19.3) | 97 (43.5) | 87 (39.4) | 1.00 | 4.78 (3.04–7.52) | 4.06 (2.64–6.24) | |
| MRI | < .001 | |||||||
| • ≤ 4 wk | 255 (26.1) | 214 (37.2) | 26 (12.3) | 15 (7.9) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| • > 4 to 12 wk | 461 (47.2) | 303 (52.6) | 118 (55.9) | 40 (21.1) | 1.00 | 4.13 (2.46–6.91) | 2.09 (1.11–3.91) | |
| • > 12 wk | 261 (26.7) | 59 (10.2) | 67 (31.8) | 135 (71.1) | 1.00 | 11.09 (6.10–20.16) | 34.71 (18.66–64.57) | |
| Ultrasound | < .001 | |||||||
| • ≤ 2 wk | 542 (52.3) | 436 (74.3) | 41 (18.4) | 65 (28.8) | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | |
| • > 2 to 4 wk | 234 (22.6) | 111 (18.9) | 45 (20.2) | 78 (34.5) | 1.00 | 5.45 (3.20–9.29) | 5.26 (3.50–7.92) | |
| • > 4 wk | 260 (25.1) | 40 (6.8) | 137 (61.4) | 83 (36.7) | 1.00 | 50.20 (29.24–86.20) | 15.77 (9.80–25.40) | |
CT—computed tomography, FDR—false discovery rate, GI—gastrointestinal, MRI—magnetic resonance imaging, NA—not applicable, OR—odds ratio.
*
Not all respondents answered all questions. Proportions are calculated based on the number of responses to the question.