Evaluation of Radiographers’ Practices with Paediatric Digital Radiography Based on PACS’ Data

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of the study is to evaluate radiographer practice with advanced digital radiography in terms of the values of exposure indices and deviation indices between hospitals in Saudi Arabia. 
Materials and Methods: The study is based on PACS’ data of paediatric radiographic images limited to the chest and abdomen performed during the last year from four hospitals in Saudi Arabia. P-value was calculated to investigate any significant differences exist between the values of exposure indices and deviation indices of the images, which will be acquired from the DICOM file of image data.
Results: Most of the paediatric radiographic images (54%) were underexposed, as these images had deviation index with less than -1 from four hospitals compared to expected results. However, in one hospital, 58% of the images were overexposed. The majority of the underexposed paediatric radiographic images were chest and abdomen radiographic exam (50% and 66% separately). Results also show that most of the underexposed radiographic images were using a grid (66%); on the other hand, in the overexposed radiographic images, 59% did not use the grid.
Conclusions: The findings of the study show the need for radiographers for further knowledge and training courses to improve their performance in digital radiography and paediatric imaging.