Statistical review of radiology registrars after hours computed tomography reporting accuracy

Abstract

Background: There is a heavy reliance on registrars for afterhours CT reporting with a resultant unavoidable error rate. This study was done to determine this error rate. Material and Methods: A 2 month prospective study was undertaken. Provisional CT reports issued by the registrar on call were reviewed information relating to the errors made during the call were recorded and analyzed. Results: 1477 CT scans were performed with an overall error rate of 17.1%. A significant difference was found between trauma (15.8%) compared to non-trauma scans (19.2%). The difference between emergency scans (16.9%) and elective scans (22.6%) was not significant. Abdominopelvic scans elicited the highest error rate (33.9%). Increasing workload resulted in a significant increase in error rate. Missed findings were the most frequent errors (57.3%). Error rate decreased with increasing year of training.