Evaluating the Outcome of an Unnecessary Request for CT Scan in Be’sat Hospital of Hamadan

Abstract

Aim. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of unnecessary tests requested in Be’sat Hospital in Hamadan. Materials and Methods. This descriptive research was conducted in order to investigate the frequency of unnecessary requests for CT scan and radiography of patients referring to the imaging department of Be’sat Hospital in Hamadan in a 4- to 6-month period. Patient information, including gender, age, type of CT scan test, the reason for requesting the test, the expertise of the requesting physician, and the result of the radiologist’s report on each test, was extracted and collected. Results. A total of 1000 CT scans were evaluated. The mean age of these patients was about 36 years and most of them were men. The highest and lowest percentages of unnecessary cases were related to CT scans of the brain (42.3%) and facial bones (2.3%), respectively. The most and the least unnecessary CT scans based on the reason given for the request were related to multiple physical trauma (30.7%) and chronic kidney disease (1.5%), respectively. Conclusion. In all tests, over 74% of the reports were unnecessary and less than 26% were necessary. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce unnecessary requests to reduce the radiation dose of patients. Also, the knowledge of doctors should be increased in the field of appropriate evaluation of CT scan tests based on clinical guidelines.