Table 5. Adjusted Rates of Low-Value Imaging.
| Marginally Adjusted Imaging Ratea | Visits, % (95% CI) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Back Pain Visits | Primary Care Physicians | ||||
| Primary Care Physicians | Chiropractors | Specialist Physiciansb | Headache Visits | Headache Visits With Clinicians Who Saw 4 or More Back Pain Visits | |
| Clinician's prior patient had an image | 20.3 (20.0-20.6) | 28.5 (28.2-28.8) | 49.0 (48.5-49.6) | 13.4 (13.1-13.7) | 12.4 (12.0-12.7) |
| Clinician's prior patient did not have an image | 12.5 (12.4-12.6) | 13.6 (13.5-13.7) | 27.0 (26.6-27.4) | 7.2 (7.1-7.3) | 7.3 (7.2-7.4) |
| Clinician had high rate of back imagingc | NA | NA | NA | NA | 11.2 (10.7-11.7) |
| Clinician did not have high rate of back imagingc | NA | NA | NA | NA | 7.6 (7.5-7.7) |
a
Values were marginally adjusted for patient age, sex, poverty level, education level, race, US region, and clinician ownership of imaging equipment.
b
The most common specialties (accounting for two-thirds of all specialist visits) were orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, back and spine surgery, physical medicine, and rheumatology.
c
High rate of back imaging was defined as clinicians at or above the 95th percentile for absolute imaging rate (66.7%).