TY - JOUR T1 - April Focus JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 234 LP - 234 DO - 10.3399/bjgp09X420220 VL - 59 IS - 561 AU - David Jewell Y1 - 2009/04/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/59/561/234.abstract N2 - Fifteen years after retirement, Geoffrey Marsh is offering advice on How to be Happy in General Practice: ‘Overall I tried to diagnose and treat patients without extensive investigations …’ (page 295). How wise. We use investigations all the time, and they provide endless information. The skill is in being sure what the answers mean. On page 243 a team of Dutch researchers have reported their conclusions from a study looking into the use of investigations for patients presenting with fatigue. Among all the patients included in the study, 8% were found to have somatic illness detected by blood tests; much larger numbers had test results found to be false positives, and naturally enough, the more tests done the higher were the number of false positives. Patients in the study were also randomised to having tests immediately or after a delay. Of those randomised to the delay group, only a quarter returned for tests after 4 weeks. … ER -