Analysing false‐positive errors when Australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluation
Abstract Introduction Diagnostic errors in the emergency departments can have major implications on patient outcomes. Preliminary Image Evaluation (PIE) is a brief comment written by a radiographer describing an acute or traumatic pathology on a radiograph and can be used to complement referrer'...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2024-12-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/jmrs.809 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850109167318073344 |
|---|---|
| author | Jermayne Takapautolo Michael Neep Deborah Starkey |
| author_facet | Jermayne Takapautolo Michael Neep Deborah Starkey |
| author_sort | Jermayne Takapautolo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Introduction Diagnostic errors in the emergency departments can have major implications on patient outcomes. Preliminary Image Evaluation (PIE) is a brief comment written by a radiographer describing an acute or traumatic pathology on a radiograph and can be used to complement referrer's image interpretation in the absence of the radiologist report. Currently, no studies exist that focus their analysis on false‐positive (FP) errors in PIE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regions of the body that cause the most FP errors and recognise other areas in image interpretation that may need additional attention. Methods A longitudinal retrospective clinical audit was conducted to determine the accuracy of radiographer PIE's over 5 years from January 2016 to December 2020. PIE's were compared to the radiologist report to assess for diagnostic accuracy. FP and unsure errors were further categorised by anatomical region and age. Results Over this period, a sample size of 11,090 PIE audits were included in the study demonstrating an overall PIE accuracy of 87.7%. Foot, ankle and chest regions caused the most FP errors, while ankle, shoulder and elbow caused the most unsure cases. 76% of the unsure cases were negative for any pathology when compared to the radiologist report. The paediatric population accounted for 21.3% of FP cases and 33.6% of unsure cases. Conclusion Findings in this study should be used to tailor education specific to radiographer image interpretation. Improving radiography image interpretation skills can assist in improving referrer diagnostic accuracy, thus improving patient outcomes. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-a072c3b2a89b422c90e5759e9c0d3ce2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2051-3895 2051-3909 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-a072c3b2a89b422c90e5759e9c0d3ce22025-08-20T02:38:10ZengWileyJournal of Medical Radiation Sciences2051-38952051-39092024-12-0171454054610.1002/jmrs.809Analysing false‐positive errors when Australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluationJermayne Takapautolo0Michael Neep1Deborah Starkey2Department of Medical Imaging Logan Hospital Meadowbrook Queensland AustraliaDepartment of Medical Imaging Logan Hospital Meadowbrook Queensland AustraliaSchool of Clinical Sciences Queensland University of Technology Brisbane AustraliaAbstract Introduction Diagnostic errors in the emergency departments can have major implications on patient outcomes. Preliminary Image Evaluation (PIE) is a brief comment written by a radiographer describing an acute or traumatic pathology on a radiograph and can be used to complement referrer's image interpretation in the absence of the radiologist report. Currently, no studies exist that focus their analysis on false‐positive (FP) errors in PIE. The purpose of this study was to investigate the regions of the body that cause the most FP errors and recognise other areas in image interpretation that may need additional attention. Methods A longitudinal retrospective clinical audit was conducted to determine the accuracy of radiographer PIE's over 5 years from January 2016 to December 2020. PIE's were compared to the radiologist report to assess for diagnostic accuracy. FP and unsure errors were further categorised by anatomical region and age. Results Over this period, a sample size of 11,090 PIE audits were included in the study demonstrating an overall PIE accuracy of 87.7%. Foot, ankle and chest regions caused the most FP errors, while ankle, shoulder and elbow caused the most unsure cases. 76% of the unsure cases were negative for any pathology when compared to the radiologist report. The paediatric population accounted for 21.3% of FP cases and 33.6% of unsure cases. Conclusion Findings in this study should be used to tailor education specific to radiographer image interpretation. Improving radiography image interpretation skills can assist in improving referrer diagnostic accuracy, thus improving patient outcomes.https://doi.org/10.1002/jmrs.809Clinical auditdiagnostic errorsemergency departmentradiographerX‐ray |
| spellingShingle | Jermayne Takapautolo Michael Neep Deborah Starkey Analysing false‐positive errors when Australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluation Journal of Medical Radiation Sciences Clinical audit diagnostic errors emergency department radiographer X‐ray |
| title | Analysing false‐positive errors when Australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluation |
| title_full | Analysing false‐positive errors when Australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluation |
| title_fullStr | Analysing false‐positive errors when Australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Analysing false‐positive errors when Australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluation |
| title_short | Analysing false‐positive errors when Australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluation |
| title_sort | analysing false positive errors when australian radiographers use preliminary image evaluation |
| topic | Clinical audit diagnostic errors emergency department radiographer X‐ray |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/jmrs.809 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jermaynetakapautolo analysingfalsepositiveerrorswhenaustralianradiographersusepreliminaryimageevaluation AT michaelneep analysingfalsepositiveerrorswhenaustralianradiographersusepreliminaryimageevaluation AT deborahstarkey analysingfalsepositiveerrorswhenaustralianradiographersusepreliminaryimageevaluation |