Retrospective Comparison of Cardiac Testing and Results on Inpatients with Low Pretest Probability Compared with Moderate/High Pretest Probability for Coronary Artery Disease

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Figure 1.
Flow diagram of included patients/results.

Table 1.

Demographics and Medical Conditions of Included Subjects

Category	Low Risk n, (% of Low Risk)	Moderate/High Risk n, (% of Mod/High Risk)	P Value^*	Total (%)
30 to 44 years	98 (32)	24 (10)	—	122 (22)
45 to 65 years	190 (62)	190 (80)	.001^{^†}	380 (70)
> 65 years	17 (6)	24 (10)	—	41 (8)
Male	49 (16)	177 (74)	.001	226 (42)
Diabetes	37 (12)	94 (40)	.001	131 (24)
HTN	168 (55)	154 (65)	.024	322 (59)
Hypercholesterolemia	78 (26)	103 (43)	.001	181 (33)
Obesity (BMI > 30)	157 (52)	116 (49)	.527	273 (50)
Smoker	99 (33)	141 (59)	.001	240 (44)
Total	305	238		543 (100)

Table 2.

Low Pretest probability vs. Moderate/High Pretest Probability Subjects

	Low Pretest Probability	Moderate/High Pretest Probability	Total	RR^* Low/MH (95% CI)	P Value
Stress tested (%)	155/305 (51%)	120/238 (50%)	275/543 (51%)	1.01 (0.852, 1.192)	.93^{^†}
Positive or equivocal stress tests/stress tested (%)	27/155 (17%)	32/120 (27%)	59/275 (21%)	0.653 (0.415, 1.028)	.07^{^†}
Positive coronary angiogram or CT/ positive or inconclusive stress test (%)	0/16 (0%)	14/29 (48%)	14/45 (31%)	0.061 (0.004, 0.957)	.001+

Testing results by Duke clinical score pretest probability category.
↵* Relative risk of low pretest probability category compared to moderate/high pretest probability group.
↵† P-value based on χ².
+ P-value based on Fisher's exact test.
CI, confidence interval; CT, computed tomography.

Table 3.

Stress Test Type

Probability Category	No Stress Test (%)	ECG Maximal (%)^*	Stress with Imaging (%)^{^†}	Total (%)
Low pretest probability	151 (50)	10 (3)	144 (47)	305 (100)
Mod/high pretest probability	118 (50)	5 (2)	115 (48)	238 (100)
Total	269 (50)	15 (3)	259 (47)	543 (100)

Provocative stress tests type by pretest probability.
↵* ECG maximal: Treadmill stress test with ECG monitor-no imaging associated.
↵† Stress with imaging: Includes both exercise and chemical stress test with echocardiography or nuclear imaging.
ECG, electrocardiogram.