Table 1

Pearson rank correlation coefficients between two six month baseline periods for requesting activity for each 1000 patients in 22 practices for 28 pathology tests

Test	Correlation coefficient
HbAlc, glycated haemaglobin; HDL, high density lipoprotein; PSA, prostate specific antigen.
Full blood count	0.97
Glucose	0.96
Prothrombin ratio	0.96
Vaginal swab	0.96
Liver enzymes	0.95
Urine microscopy/culture	0.95
Plasma viscosity	0.93
Biopsy (skin)	0.93
Thyroid	0.91
Sputum	0.91
Throat swab	0.91
Wound swab	0.91
Luteinising hormone	0.90
Microalbumin	0.90
Electrolytes	0.89
Cholesterol	0.89
PSA	0.85
Erythrocyte sedimentation rate	0.84
Follicle stimulating hormone	0.83
HbA1c	0.80
Ear swab	0.78
Ulcer swab	0.76
Ferritin	0.74
Vitamin B12	0.71
Triglycerides	0.69
HDL cholesterol	0.68
Faeces culture	0.61
Rheumatoid factor	0.59