Table 5.

Problem, patient, and GP variants as predictors of safety-netting advice

Codes from observingconsultation/linked dataOptionsSafety-netting advice presentn/N (%)Unadjusted model ORa (95% CI)P-valueAdjusted model ORa (95% CI)P-valuea
Is this problem acute, acute on chronic, or chronic?Acute/AoC182/342 (53.2)2.09 (1.47 to 2.98)<0.0012.18 (1.30 to 3.64)0.003
Chronic75/213 (35.2)
Is this the first presentation with this medical problem to a healthcare professional?First presentation61/114 (53.5)1.40 (0.93 to 2.12)0.1111.08 (0.61 to 1.91)0.800
Not first presentation188/417 (45.1)
Unclear (excluded)8/24 (33.3)
Is the problem the first assessed in the consultation or after the first?First/only181/318 (56.9)2.80 (1.97 to 3.98)<0.0012.94 (1.85 to 4.68)<0.001
After the first76/237 (32.1)
Is there evidence for any follow-up for this problem?Follow-up present162/373 (43.4)0.70 (0.49 to 1.00)0.0520.63 (0.38 to 1.02)0.059
No evidence of follow-up95/182 (52.2)
What was the age of the doctor who assessed this problem?Aged ≤49 years185/354 (52.3)1.96 (1.37 to 2.80)<0.0012.56 (1.45 to 4.51)0.001
Aged ≥50 years72/201 (35.8)
Is this problem assessed in an older patient?Aged ≥65 years65/148 (43.9)0.96 (0.66 to 1.41)0.8511.21 (0.69 to 2.12)0.503
Aged 18–64 years173/386 (44.8)
Unreported (excluded)19/21 (90.5)
What is the sex of the patient presenting with this problem?Female157/343 (45.8)0.95 (0.67 to 1.33)0.7480.83 (0.50 to 1.36)0.458
Male100/212 (47.2)
What is the ethnicity of the patient presenting with this problem?Other34/57 (59.6)1.88 (1.08 to 3.29)0.0271.44 (0.60 to 3.44)0.412
White213/484 (44.0)
Unreported (excluded)10/14 (71.4)
What is the IMD quintile of the patient presenting with this problem?1 (least deprived)87/159 (54.7)1.00 (Ref)1.00 (Ref)
238/88 (43.2)0.63 (0.37 to 1.06)0.0830.75 (0.35 to 1.58)0.444
328/53 (52.8)0.93 (0.50 to 1.73)0.8110.97 (0.40 to 2.38)0.953
437/94 (39.4)0.54 (0.32 to 0.90)0.0190.59 (0.28 to 1.24)0.162
5 (most deprived)66/160 (41.3)0.58 (0.37 to 0.91)0.0160.90 (0.44 to 1.84)0.771
Unreported (excluded)1/1 (100)
  • a Odd ratios and 95% CIs generated from logistic regression of variants associated with the presence or absence of safety-netting advice for problems raised in the archive. Multilevel modelling adjusts for all variables in table and for within clustering by GP and patient (all problems seen by same GP and problems from the same patient). Adjusted P-values exclude problems with unreported data, n = 505 problems. AoC = acute on chronic. CI = confidence interval. IMD = Index of Multiple Deprivation. OR = odds ratio. Ref = reference.