Table 3.
Selected specific clinical variables in the referrals
| Variable | Number of vignettes (number of referral pairs) |
With checklist N (%) |
Without checklist N (%) |
OR (95% CI)* | p Value* |
| Duration | 8 (180) | 156 (86.7) | 121 (67.2) | 3.4 (1.7 to 6.8) | <0.001 |
| Weight loss | 8 (180) | 156 (86.7) | 93 (51.7) | 6.6 (3.4 to 12.9) | <0.001 |
| General condition | 8 (180) | 143 (79.4) | 35 (19.4) | 17.7 (6.5 to 48.1) | <0.001 |
| Current medication | 8 (180) | 150 (83.3) | 124 (69.3) | 2.5 (1.2 to 5.2) | 0.019 |
| Findings on clinical examination | 8 (180) | 148 (82.2) | 116 (64.4) | 2.6 (1.4 to 4.8) | 0.002 |
| Medical history | 8 (180) | 168 (93.3) | 159 (88.3) | 1.9 (0.6 to 5.5) | 0.262 |
| DRE | 5 (113) | 73 (64.6) | 44 (38.9) | 3.1 (1.8 to 5.1) | <0.001 |
| Rectal bleeding | 5 (113) | 78 (69.0) | 73 (64.6) | 1.3 (0.7 to 2.3) | 0.422 |
| FOBT | 5 (113) | 103 (91.2) | 86 (76.1) | 3.3 (1.3 to 8.4) | 0.015 |
| Hb, ferritin/MCV | 5 (113) | 105 (92.9) | 79 (69.9) | 5.7 (2.0 to 16.6) | 0.001 |
| Haematemesis | 2 (45) | 35 (77.8) | 14 (31.1) | 7.8 (3.3 to 18.3) | <0.001 |
| Reflux details | 2 (45) | 33 (73.3) | 17 (37.8) | 10.6 (2.3 to 48.5) | 0.001 |
| Dysphagia | 1 (23) | 19 (82.6) | 3 (13.0) | 31.7 (5.3 to 189.5) | <0.001 |
*OR and p values calculated from multilevel logistic regression model, adjusting for clinical case and the cluster GP.
DRE, digital rectal examination; FOBT, faecal occult blood test; Hb, haemoglobin; MCV, mean corpuscular volume.