Unnecessary Hepatitis-B Orders

Özet

Introduction: Laboratory tests to diagnose hepatitis B infection provide important data to clinicians, but these tests lead to serious labor loss and high cost both in our country and also in the world. In the studies, it has been determined that the test requests are sometimes unnecessary. It is contemplated that the number of tests will increase due to non-questioning of vaccination and other inappropriate test orders. In this study, we aimed to retrospectively analyze unnecessary test requests in patients vaccinated against hepatitis B and to find out what could be the future challenges to prevent this. Methods: Between March and December 2014, samples sent to the Microbiology Laboratory of Education and Research Hospital to test for hepatitis B seropositivity were analyzed in this study. HBsAg, anti-HBc IgG, anti-HBc IgM, HBeAg, and anti-HBe tests, which were requested from the patients and yielded anti-HBs-positive and anti-HBc-negative results, were accepted as unnecessary orders. The financial burden of the tests was calculated on the basis of the scores given in the Social Security Institution Health Practice Statement (SUT). Results: As a result, it was determined that 92 tests of HBsAg, 20 tests of anti-HBc total, 48 tests of anti-HBc IgM, 14 tests of HBeAg, and 21 tests of anti-HBe were unnecessary. When the cost of the tests was calculated according to the SUT scores, it has been concluded that a total of 1507 TLs were spent for these unnecessary tests. Discussion and Conclusion: In our study, if compared to the literature, a relatively low unnecessary test order was detected for hepatitis B infections. Even so, methods for eliminating health-care waste and reducing orders leading to cost-effectiveness should be developed.