# Assessing the Impact of Patient Characteristics on Genetic Clinical Pathways: A Regression Approach
## 3 Results
### Statistical Analyses
#### 3.5.1 Binary Models: Assignment to a Clinical Pathway--Full Sample  
The estimates presented in Table 17 concern nine binary models, where the dependent variable is a dummy equal to one if the patient is assigned to a specific clinical pathway. The dependent variable is, therefore, the probability of being or not being in a specific clinical pathway. The numbers in brackets indicate the Student's t-statistics. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c} \hline
**Clinical Pathway** & **Frequency** & **(\%)** \\ \hline A1 & 491 & 0.2317 \\ A2 & 775 & 0.3657 \\ B1 & 370 & 0.1746 \\ B2 & 47 & 0.0222 \\ B3 & 71 & 0.0335 \\ B4 & 9 & 0.0042 \\ B5 & 194 & 0.0916 \\ B6 & 115 & 0.0543 \\ B7 & 4 & 0.0019 \\ C1 & 5 & 0.0024 \\ C2 & 17 & 0.0080 \\ C3 & 8 & 0.0038 \\ C4 & 1 & 0.0005 \\ C5 & 7 & 0.0033 \\ C6 & 4 & 0.0019 \\ C7 & 1 & 0.0005 \\ \hline Total & 2119 & 1 \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 16: Descriptive statistics on the distribution of patients in pathways. The objective consists of analyzing whether and to what extent certain personal characteristics are correlated with the probability of being assigned to a certain clinical pathway. In this context, it is more accurate to use correlation and not causation, as it is, in fact, difficult to assess whether the regressors are purely exogenous. The coefficients shown are marginal effects. It should also be noted that in models (4), (6), and (7), the statistical software has excluded some variables for reasons of multicollinearity, which is why the number of observations is lower. The variable age is also excluded from the regressions as it is strongly endogenous for reasons of reverse causality. The most interesting results concern the clinical pathways B1, B5, B6, and DA. Pathway B1 relates to examinations for genetic diseases in the family and consanguinity. Being a foreign patient is positively correlated with the probability of being in this clinical pathway, together with past voluntary interruptions of pregnancy. One possible interpretation is that this might be related to socioeconomic or health deprivation. The B5 pathway, on the other hand, is linked to fetal pathologies. Patients seem to become aware of this problem later in pregnancy (weeks are positively correlated with the probability of being in this pathway). Being Italian increases the probability of being in this pathway. The number of past interruptions of pregnancy (spontaneous and voluntary) is, in turn, positively correlated with the probability of being in this pathway. One possible interpretation is that, if the fetus is potentially affected by genetic disorders, the same genetic problems may also have adversely affected past pregnancies. Pathway B6 concerns exposure to external factors (e.g., radiation, drugs). Weeks of pregnancy are negatively correlated, and this is not surprising, and if the patient realizes or is aware of the exposure, she contacts the department at the earliest opportunity. The number of children born alive from previous pregnancies is negatively correlated, perhaps because mothers with more past experience are less likely to have this type of problem. The A pathway (maternal age) has the largest number of significant variables. Mothers take these examinations at the earliest convenient time (weeks of pregnancy are negatively correlated). Foreign mothers, as seen, are on average younger: they are, therefore, more likely to be in the A pathway if the mother is Italian. The number of children born alive from previous pregnancies is positively correlated with the probability of being in the pathway. Being an older mother means they are more likely to have had other children in the past. Voluntary terminations of pregnancy are negatively correlated, while miscarriages are positively correlated. Finally, it is interesting to comment on the referral of medical doctors across the board. Examinations by maternal age are prescribed more by the general practitioner, whereas if the prescription is made by a hospital specialist, the patient is more likely to be in the B5 or B6 pathway.