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Research
Open Access

Physician choices in pulmonary embolism testing

Sahar Zarabi, Teresa M. Chan, Mathew Mercuri, Clive Kearon, Michelle Turcotte, Emily Grusko, David Barbic, Catherine Varner, Eileen Bridges, Reaves Houston, Debra Eagles and Kerstin de Wit
CMAJ January 11, 2021 193 (2) E38-E46; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.201639
Sahar Zarabi
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Teresa M. Chan
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Mathew Mercuri
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Clive Kearon
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Michelle Turcotte
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Emily Grusko
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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David Barbic
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Catherine Varner
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Eileen Bridges
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Reaves Houston
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Debra Eagles
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Kerstin de Wit
Faculty of Medicine (Zarabi, Varner) and Dalla Lana School of Public Health (Mercuri), University of Toronto, Toronto, Ont.; Faculty of Health Sciences (Chan, Mercuri, Kearon, de Wit), McMaster University, Hamilton, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Turcotte, Eagles), University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont.; Faculty of Medicine (Grusko), University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Man.; Faculty of Medicine (Barbic), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; Faculty of Medicine (Bridges), McGill University, Montréal, Que.; Chapel Hill School of Medicine (Houston), University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
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Abstract

BACKGROUND: Evidence-based guidelines advise excluding pulmonary embolism (PE) diagnosis using d-dimer in patients with a lower probability of PE. Emergency physicians frequently order computed tomography (CT) pulmonary angiography without d-dimer testing or when d-dimer is negative, which exposes patients to more risk than benefit. Our objective was to develop a conceptual framework explaining emergency physicians’ test choices for PE.

METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews of emergency physicians in Canada. A nonmedical researcher conducted in-person interviews. Participants described how they would test simulated patients with symptoms of possible PE, answered a knowledge test and were interviewed on barriers to using evidence-based PE tests.

RESULTS: We interviewed 63 emergency physicians from 9 hospitals in 5 cities, across 3 provinces. We identified 8 domains: anxiety with PE, barriers to using the evidence (time, knowledge and patient), divergent views on evidence-based PE testing, inherent Wells score problems, the drive to obtain CT rather than to diagnose PE, gestalt estimation artificially inflating PE probability, subjective reasoning and cognitive biases supporting deviation from evidence-based tests and use of evidence-based testing to rule out PE in patients who are very unlikely to have PE. Choices for PE testing were influenced by the disease, environment, test qualities, physician and probability of PE.

INTERPRETATION: Analysis of structured interviews with emergency physicians provided a conceptual framework to explain how these physicians use tests for suspected PE. The data suggest 8 domains to address when implementing an evidence-based protocol to investigate PE.

  • Accepted October 25, 2020.

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original publication is properly cited, the use is noncommercial (i.e., research or educational use), and no modifications or adaptations are made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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Canadian Medical Association Journal: 193 (2)
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Vol. 193, Issue 2
11 Jan 2021
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Physician choices in pulmonary embolism testing
Sahar Zarabi, Teresa M. Chan, Mathew Mercuri, Clive Kearon, Michelle Turcotte, Emily Grusko, David Barbic, Catherine Varner, Eileen Bridges, Reaves Houston, Debra Eagles, Kerstin de Wit
CMAJ Jan 2021, 193 (2) E38-E46; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.201639

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Physician choices in pulmonary embolism testing
Sahar Zarabi, Teresa M. Chan, Mathew Mercuri, Clive Kearon, Michelle Turcotte, Emily Grusko, David Barbic, Catherine Varner, Eileen Bridges, Reaves Houston, Debra Eagles, Kerstin de Wit
CMAJ Jan 2021, 193 (2) E38-E46; DOI: 10.1503/cmaj.201639
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