The Denominator for Audit in General Practice

摘要

Fleming D M (Birmingham Research Unit of the RCGP, Lordswood House, 54 Lordswood Road, Harborne, Birmingham B17 9DB). The denominator for audit in general practice.Family Practice1985; 2: 76–81.Different denominators for morbidity studies were compared from two large studies in Britain. From the second national morbidity survey, data from 24 single-handed doctors showed a close correlation between the denominators‘persons consulting’and‘list size’(r>0.9) in both years of the survey, but a weaker correlation between‘consultations’and‘list size’(r=0.6). However, when examining rank order statistics for visiting and out-patient referral rates, it was immaterial for most doctors which denominator was chosen. Only for recorders with a consultation rate at the extremes of the range was the choice of denominator critical to the interpretation of the data.In the practice activity analysis study, based on 47 doctors and a mean of 284 consultations in two weeks, the correlation between‘persons consulting’and‘total consultations’was 0.99. Thus the number consultations provided a satisfactory proxy for persons consulting in a two-week study.These results justify the use of‘consultations’over two weeks as a denominator in general practice audit in circumstances where rank order is appropriate f