Development of a valid and reliable test to assess trauma radiograph interpretation performance

Radiographer commenting systems have not been successfully implemented in many Australian hospitals, despite evidence of their benefit and adoption elsewhere, such as the United Kingdom. An important contributor to the lack of widespread adoption of radiographer commenting in Australia (and likely elsewhere) is the limited availability of accessible education options for radiographers. The purpose of this randomised controlled trial is to compare the effectiveness of the same image interpretation education program delivered over an intensive 2‐day period (intensive format) versus a series of shorter regular workshops (non‐intensive format). The study design is a multicentre, stratified (by years of experience) two group parallel‐arm single‐blind (assessor blinded) randomised controlled trial. Participants will be allocated to one of the two groups: (1) intensive format of education or (2) non‐intensive format of education in a 1:1 ratio. Participants will undergo assessments before education, at 1 week post‐intervention completion and at 12 weeks post‐intervention completion. Findings from this trial will be of relevance to radiographers seeking image interpretation training as well as organisations providing image interpretation education to prepare clinical staff for participation in a radiographer commenting system. A limitation of the trial is that the sample will be inclusive of radiographers, and findings may not be able to be directly extrapolated to other clinical disciplines (e.g. junior doctors, physiotherapists or nurse practitioners).

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Primary Outcome Measurementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Primary Outcome Measurementioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Evaluating the effectiveness of intensive versus non‐intensive image interpretation education for radiographers: a randomised control trial study protocol

Neep

Steffens

Eastgate

et al. 2018

Improving the delivery of health care to patients: radiographers and frontline image interpretation

Baird

2018

Evaluating the effectiveness of intensive versus non‐intensive image interpretation education for radiographers: a randomised controlled trial

Neep

Steffens

Eastgate

et al. 2018

Introduction The purpose of this randomised controlled trial was to compare the effectiveness of intensive and non‐intensive formats of delivery of image interpretation education for radiographers. Methods A multi‐centre, stratified (by years of experience) two group parallel arm, single blind, randomised controlled trial was conducted. Participants (n = 48) were allocated to one of two groups to receive image interpretation education: (1) intensive format (13.5 h over two consecutive days) (2) non‐intensive (sequential 90‐min tutorials delivered 1 week apart). Participants undertook x‐ray interpretation tests before education, at 1‐week post‐education completion and at 12‐week post‐education completion. Results Image interpretation performance was not significantly different between groups at baseline. A generalised linear model indicated that participants who received intensive education format improved image interpretation performance by a greater margin than the group that received non‐intensive education at 1‐week (P = 0.002) and 12‐week (P < 0.001) follow‐up assessments. Conclusions Although both formats of education delivery may be beneficial, the findings of this study have indicated that the intensive format of delivery was more effective at improving radiographers’ ability to interpret trauma radiographs in the weeks after completion of the image interpretation program.