Characteristics of the included studies
| Characteristic | No. (%) of studies n = 174 |
|---|---|
| Type of inappropriate care* | |
| Underuse | 94 (54.0) |
| Overuse | 95 (54.6) |
| Misuse | 0 (0) |
| Health care sector* | |
| Acute or specialty | 122 (70.1) |
| Primary care | 57 (32.8) |
| Rehabilitation | 24 (13.8) |
| Long-term care | 23 (13.2) |
| Home or community | 18 (10.3) |
| Public health | 13 (7.5) |
| Unidentified | 13 (7.5) |
| Province or territory* | |
| Ontario | 98 (56.3) |
| Alberta | 60 (34.5) |
| British Columbia | 27 (15.5) |
| Quebec | 27 (15.5) |
| Nova Scotia | 23 (13.2) |
| Saskatchewan | 17 (9.8) |
| Manitoba | 16 (9.2) |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 15 (8.6) |
| New Brunswick | 11 (6.3) |
| Prince Edward Island | 9 (5.2) |
| Yukon | 5 (2.9) |
| Northwest Territories | 4 (2.3) |
| Nunavut | 2 (1.1) |
| Unidentified | 13 (7.5) |
| Sample size | |
| < 100 | 9 (5.2) |
| 100–999 | 59 (33.9) |
| 1000–9999 | 31 (17.8) |
| 10 000–99 999 | 24 (13.8) |
| 100 000–1 000 000 | 15 (8.6) |
| > 1 000 000 | 9 (5.2) |
| Not reported† | 27 (15.5) |
| Study design | |
| Cross sectional | 81 (46.5) |
| Cohort | 62 (35.6) |
| Pre-post | 11 (6.3) |
| Interrupted time series | 10 (5.7) |
| Randomized controlled trial | 8 (4.6) |
| Case series | 2 (1.1) |
| Data source | |
| Administrative database or population data set | 109 (62.6) |
| Hospital- or setting-specific data | 58 (33.3) |
| Surveys of specific settings or databases | 7 (4.0) |
| Number of specific practices reported | |
| 1 | 125 (71.8) |
| ≥ 2 | 49 (28.2) |
| Evidence source for the recommendation or standard* | |
| Guideline | 165 (94.3) |
| Systematic review or meta-analysis | 29 (16.7) |
| Quality indicator | 1 (0.6) |
| Sex | |
| Male and female | 103 (59.2) |
| Female only | 15 (8.6) |
| Male only | 4 (2.3) |
| Not specified or not reported | 52 (29.9) |
| Age, yr | |
| Adults (≥ 18) | 116 (66.7) |
| Children (1–18) | 4 (2.3) |
| Infants (< 1) | 3 (1.7) |
| Mixed (adults, children or infants) | 5 (2.9) |
| Not specified | 46 (26.4) |