Evaluation of inadequately filled radiology request forms with its impact on patient radiation exposure and waiting time in a tertiary care hospital: A preliminary report from Northwest Nigeria

IF 0.1 Q4 RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING
I. Garba, Hussain Bashir, Sidi Mohammed, M. Dambele, M. Hikima, Y. Lawal, M. Yahuza
{"title":"Evaluation of inadequately filled radiology request forms with its impact on patient radiation exposure and waiting time in a tertiary care hospital: A preliminary report from Northwest Nigeria","authors":"I. Garba, Hussain Bashir, Sidi Mohammed, M. Dambele, M. Hikima, Y. Lawal, M. Yahuza","doi":"10.4103/wajr.wajr_5_21","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Background: Adequate and accurate clinical history on a properly filled request form is indispensable if a clinically relevant radiological diagnosis is to be made. Moreover, clinicians need to clearly justify their requests for radiological procedures on a request form to prevent unnecessary radiation exposures and examinations with attendant prolonged waiting time. Objective: The study audited inadequately filled radiology request forms to determine their impacts on diagnosis, patient radiation exposure, and waiting time. Materials and Methods: Following an institutional review board approval, a total of 158 inadequately filled request forms for conventional X-ray examinations were sequentially enlisted and evaluated. Scorings as filled, inadequately filled, and unfilled were used to score each item based on the following: patient biodata/demographic information and patient referral details and referring physician details. Request forms for repeat examinations were further analyzed for remote factors tied to inadequate filling or lack of filling of the details on the repeat forms. Data were analyzed based on descriptive statistics using SPSS statistical software. Results: Patient names including first and surname were adequately filled on all the request cards (100%). Information related to patient referral details such as previous X-ray examination, blood pressure, and last menstrual period were inadequately filled with 4.4%, 2.5%, and 19.7% completion, respectively. Of the 158 request forms assessed, 33 (20.9%) examinations were repeated due to partial or complete cutoff of anatomic region of interest analysis showing inadequate clinical history and requested examination accounting for 45.5% and 24.2% of the remote factors tied to the repeats. Conclusion: The practice of adequate, correct, and consistent filling of radiology request forms was suboptimal with resultant prolonged waiting time and possibly increased exposure among repeat cases. A continued reminder of all referring clinicians needs to be improved to protect patients from prolonged waiting times and unnecessary radiation exposure, for the overall improvement of quality of services. Implications for Practice: Adequate information on the request forms improves diagnostic acuracy, reduced waiting time, and increased overall quality of service delivery.","PeriodicalId":29875,"journal":{"name":"West African Journal of Radiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2021-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"West African Journal of Radiology","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.4103/wajr.wajr_5_21","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1

Abstract

Background: Adequate and accurate clinical history on a properly filled request form is indispensable if a clinically relevant radiological diagnosis is to be made. Moreover, clinicians need to clearly justify their requests for radiological procedures on a request form to prevent unnecessary radiation exposures and examinations with attendant prolonged waiting time. Objective: The study audited inadequately filled radiology request forms to determine their impacts on diagnosis, patient radiation exposure, and waiting time. Materials and Methods: Following an institutional review board approval, a total of 158 inadequately filled request forms for conventional X-ray examinations were sequentially enlisted and evaluated. Scorings as filled, inadequately filled, and unfilled were used to score each item based on the following: patient biodata/demographic information and patient referral details and referring physician details. Request forms for repeat examinations were further analyzed for remote factors tied to inadequate filling or lack of filling of the details on the repeat forms. Data were analyzed based on descriptive statistics using SPSS statistical software. Results: Patient names including first and surname were adequately filled on all the request cards (100%). Information related to patient referral details such as previous X-ray examination, blood pressure, and last menstrual period were inadequately filled with 4.4%, 2.5%, and 19.7% completion, respectively. Of the 158 request forms assessed, 33 (20.9%) examinations were repeated due to partial or complete cutoff of anatomic region of interest analysis showing inadequate clinical history and requested examination accounting for 45.5% and 24.2% of the remote factors tied to the repeats. Conclusion: The practice of adequate, correct, and consistent filling of radiology request forms was suboptimal with resultant prolonged waiting time and possibly increased exposure among repeat cases. A continued reminder of all referring clinicians needs to be improved to protect patients from prolonged waiting times and unnecessary radiation exposure, for the overall improvement of quality of services. Implications for Practice: Adequate information on the request forms improves diagnostic acuracy, reduced waiting time, and increased overall quality of service delivery.
评估填写不充分的放射请求表及其对三级保健医院患者辐射暴露和等待时间的影响:尼日利亚西北部的初步报告
背景:如果要做出临床相关的放射诊断,在正确填写的申请表上充分和准确的临床病史是必不可少的。此外,临床医生需要在申请表上清楚地证明他们要求放射治疗的理由,以防止不必要的辐射暴露和检查,从而延长等待时间。目的:本研究审核填写不充分的放射申请表,以确定其对诊断、患者辐射暴露和等待时间的影响。材料和方法:经机构审查委员会批准,共有158份填写不充分的常规x线检查申请表被依次征集和评估。使用填写、未充分填写和未填写的评分根据以下内容对每个项目进行评分:患者生物数据/人口统计信息、患者转诊详细信息和转诊医生详细信息。再次检查的申请表进一步分析了与填写不充分或没有填写重复表格上的详细信息有关的远程因素。数据采用SPSS统计软件进行描述性统计分析。结果:所有请求卡均填满了患者姓名(100%)。既往x线检查、血压、末次月经等患者转诊信息填写不充分,填写完成率分别为4.4%、2.5%、19.7%。在158份评估的请求表格中,33份(20.9%)由于部分或完全切断感兴趣的解剖区域分析,显示不充分的临床病史而重复检查,请求检查占与重复相关的远程因素的45.5%和24.2%。结论:充分、正确和一致填写放射学申请表的做法是次优的,导致等待时间延长,并可能增加重复病例的暴露。需要改进对所有转诊临床医生的持续提醒,以保护患者免受延长的等待时间和不必要的辐射照射,从而全面提高服务质量。对实践的启示:申请表上的充分信息提高了诊断的准确性,减少了等待时间,提高了服务的整体质量。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
West African Journal of Radiology
West African Journal of Radiology RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING-
自引率
0.00%
发文量
0
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信