Associations between management decisions by the general practitioner and (a) clinically defined osteoarthritis (OA), (b) sex of the patient, and (c) general practitioner choice to x ray (questionnaire 1), summarised by the odds ratio (95% confidence interval)
| Action taken on questionnaire 1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advise on knee joint exercises | Review in few weeks | Refer to physiotherapy | Inject knee with corticosteroid | Refer to rheumatologist | Refer to orthopaedic surgeon | |
| * Number of observations, with each GP responder included between one and four times. | ||||||
| Number* | 1724 | 1726 | 1713 | 1715 | 1711 | 1715 |
| No clinical OA | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Clinical OA | 1.37 (1.09 to 1.73) | 0.87 (0.65 to 1.16) | 0.81 (0.66 to 0.99) | 0.52 (0.35 to 0.78) | 2.53 (1.56 to 4.10) | 1.36 (1.06 to 1.74) |
| Male | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Female | 0.90 (0.71 to 1.13) | 1.42 (1.06 to 1.90) | 1.02 (0.83 to 1.25) | 1.99 (1.33 to 2.99) | 2.73 (1.67 to 4.47) | 0.29 (0.22 to 0.37) |
| Chooses not to x ray | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 | 1.00 |
| Chooses to x ray | 0.55 (0.42 to 0.74) | 2.68 (1.95 to 3.70) | 1.42 (1.12 to 1.81) | 1.92 (1.21 to 3.05) | 2.92 (1.66 to 5.15) | 2.13 (1.62 to 2.81) |