1. COMPARISON OF READER PERFORMANCE IN MAMMOGRAPHIC INTERPRETATIONS IN A WORK VS HOME ENVIRONMENT: OBSERVATIONS BY NOVICE PARTICIPANTS.
- Author
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Yule, H, Perham, N, Watt, A, and Hodgetts, H
- Subjects
WORK environment ,HOME environment ,MEDICAL radiology ,COMPUTERS in medicine ,DIGITAL technology ,MAMMOGRAMS ,CONFERENCES & conventions ,DIAGNOSTIC imaging ,COMPARATIVE studies ,PROFESSIONAL competence ,ALLIED health personnel - Abstract
Digital mammography has transformed how we review mammograms including allowing practitioners to remotely view images. In a clinical setting mammographic interpretation takes place on specific diagnostic monitors under controlled ambient lighting. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a detrimental effect upon the diagnostic accuracy of mammographic interpretations in a working from home (WFH) environment compared to a laboratory or real world simulated working environment. The covid-19 pandemic has provided many with a home working option which has found to increase work efficiency. Participants (undergraduate psychology students) were randomly assigned to one of two group: WFH; n= 34 and Laboratory (L); n= 25. Participants were presented identical sets of mammograms which were displayed on standard non- medical computer screens and asked to identify whether the image showed evidence of malignancy or not. An initial set of 10 mammograms were shown for teaching purposes and annotated normal or abnormal. This was followed by 208 non- annotated mammograms. The mammograms were enriched with abnormalities in keeping with strategies employed in medical perception experiments. The primary dependent variables were accuracy and response times with independent variables being work environment. Novice participants were able to correctly classify mammograms as normal or abnormal. An independent samples t-test indicated that the WFH group (n 34) reported significantly higher accuracy (M =0.68, SD =.466) than found in the L group (n 25) (M =0.46, SD =.499) p. <001. Further analysis of response times found that these were more consistent as the task progressed in WFH group. current findings suggest that there is no detrimental effect upon diagnostic accuracy as a result of WFH in novice participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2022
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