Accuracy of after-hour 'red dot' trauma radiograph triage by radiographers in a South African regional hospital

• Published in: South African medical journal 2013-09, Vol.103 (9), p.638-640
• Main Authors: Hlongwane, Sibusiso T, Pitcher, Richard D
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; After-Hours Care - methods; After-Hours Care - standards; Child; Clinical Competence - standards; Consultants; Female; Fractures, Bone - classification; Fractures, Bone - diagnostic imaging; Humans; Male; Medical Staff, Hospital - standards; Practice; Quality Assurance, Health Care; Quality management; Radiography; Radiology - methods; Radiology - standards; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; South Africa; Triage (Medicine); Triage - methods; Triage - standards; Triage - statistics & numerical data
• ISSN: 0256-9574; 2078-5135
• DOI: 10.7196/SAMJ.6267

The global demand for diagnostic imaging exceeds the supply of radiologists and is of particular significance in poorly resourced healthcare environments where many radiographs are unreported. Delayed or absent reporting may negatively impact patient management. In well-resourced countries there is recognition that extending the role of radiographers to radiological reporting tasks helps meet service demands. Aim. To determine the accuracy of acute fracture detection by South African radiographers working in an after-hour setting. We performed a retrospective study of radiographers at a Western Cape Regional Hospital over 2 months in 2011. The sensitivity and specificity of radiographers' fracture detection were compared with that of a consultant radiologist. Differences were evaluated using the McNemar chi-squared test, with p