Impact of trauma center status on radiology resident performance in detecting non-accidental trauma on the WIDI SIM exam.

Purpose: To evaluate whether adult and pediatric trauma center status, as well as the presence of dedicated child protection teams, influences radiology resident performance in detecting non-accidental trauma on the Emergent/Critical Care Imaging Simulation (WIDI SIM) exam.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed 639 WIDI SIM exam scores for four pediatric non-accidental trauma cases completed by radiology residents across 33 programs. Residents were stratified by level (R1-R4) and institutional factors, including adult trauma center status, pediatric trauma center status, and child protection team presence. Additionally, 2022 pediatric physical abuse counts per state were obtained from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System and normalized between 0 and 1. We employed a negative binomial generalized linear model (GLM). The outcome was regressed on resident level, trauma center status variables, child protection team presence, and normalized abuse counts.

Results: Higher resident training level was significantly associated with better performance (R1=3.6, R2=5, R3=6.1, R4=7.9; P<0.001). Adult trauma center accreditation was also associated with higher scores (4.6 vs. 3.3; P<0.001). In contrast, pediatric trauma center status, child protection team presence, and normalized state-level abuse counts were not significantly associated with resident performance (all P>0.05).

Conclusion: Resident experience and adult trauma center accreditation were significantly associated with better radiology resident performance in detecting non-accidental trauma in a simulated call environment. Pediatric trauma center status, child protection team presence, and statewide abuse prevalence were not associated with detection performance. These findings suggest the need for targeted educational interventions at non-adult trauma centers and emphasize the importance of experience in developing diagnostic proficiency for non-accidental trauma.