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How do general practitioners respond to reports of abnormal chest X-rays?

Authors :
Lim WS
Macfarlane JT
Deegan PC
Manhire A
Holmes WF
Baldwin DR
Source :
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine [J R Soc Med] 1999 Sep; Vol. 92 (9), pp. 446-9.
Publication Year :
1999

Abstract

General practitioners (GPs) in the UK have long had direct access to hospital radiological services, which in theory shortens investigation time and improves the quality of service. Chest X-rays (CXRs) account for a substantial proportion of requests, and we investigated what happened when an abnormality was detected. In one year, 204 GPs in the Nottingham area requested CXRs in 605 patients. 362 were reported normal, 165 abnormal but hospital follow-up not indicated and 71 abnormal with radiological follow-up or hospital referral indicated (mass lesion suspicious of tumours 27, infective shadowing 35, other 9). 64 of the 71 were seen in hospital within three months, and in those with suspected cancer the median time to follow-up was 20 days. These results show that GPs do act on the results of abnormal CXRs, but only 37% of those with a mass suspicious of cancer were seen in hospital within two weeks as recommended by the British Thoracic Society. Time might be saved if GPs agreed to direct referral from the radiology department to respiratory physicians.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
0141-0768
Volume :
92
Issue :
9
Database :
MEDLINE
Journal :
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
10645291
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1177/014107689909200903