Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Aug 30;12(1):152.
doi: 10.1186/s13643-023-02327-w.

Checklists for interpreting chest radiographs: a scoping review protocol

Khethiwe Margaret Sethole  1 , Nombeko Mshunqane  2 , Mable Kekana  3
Affiliations

Checklists for interpreting chest radiographs: a scoping review protocol

Khethiwe Margaret Sethole et al. Syst Rev. .

Abstract

Introduction: What is known about checklists for interpreting chest radiographs? The question will guide the development of the inclusion criteria for the scoping review. Breaking down the scoping review question will allow the evaluation of inclusion and exclusion criteria for the protocol. The eligibility of the proposed research question will be assessed using the Population or Participants, Concept and Context (PCC) framework.

Background: X-ray reporting can be standardised using checklists. Checklists may reduce the time needed to produce a comprehensive X-ray report and improve the quality and consistency of detecting abnormalities on chest radiographs. This scoping review aims to map the available literature on what is known about checklists for interpreting chest radiographs.

Methods: We will follow the methodological framework for scoping reviews originally described by Arksey and O'Malley. The scoping review will include articles that describe checklists for reducing diagnostic errors, checklists for analysing chest radiographs, checklists for identifying abnormalities on chest radiographs and checklists for reporting chest radiographs in all settings. Search terms are chest radiographs, checklists, and chest X-rays. We will search for peer-reviewed articles and grey literature including dissertations and theses. We will search online databases including Ovid Medline and Ebscohost, to identify articles published in English from 1994 to 2022. The searched articles will undergo two levels of screening, first the title and abstract screening, then a full-text screening by two reviewers. Data from the selected articles will be extracted, using a tested extraction form and charted using the Joanna Briggs Institute guidelines.

Results: The results will be collated, summarised and discussed including any limitations of the included articles. The articles will be summarised in a table, as well as narratively. The distribution of studies will be summarised quantitatively and the numerical analysis will provide an overview and identify knowledge gaps. Content analysis will map different checklists available for chest interpretation.

Discussion: The results of the scoping review will be used to develop a checklist that will be used by medical doctors in collaboration with radiographers working in settings where there are no radiologists on-site, for interpreting chest radiographs.

Systematic review registration: Scoping review protocol registered with Open Science Framework on 27 July 2022. Registration https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/JS5PQ.

Keywords: Checklist; Chest interpretation; Medical doctors; Radiographers; Radiologists.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram showing the process followed to identify relevant articles on checklists for analysing chest radiographs [15]. The flowchart details the review decision process, indicating the results from the search, removal of duplicate citations, study selection, full retrieval and additions from a third search, and the final summary presentation. The “Results” section will identify how many studies were identified and selected
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Simpson M. Shortage of radiologists in South Africa requires innovative solution: Tech smart, 2015. http://www.techsmart.co.za/business/Shortage-of-radiologists-in-SA-requi.... Accessed June 2021.
    1. Mayor S. Waiting times for x- ray results in England are increasing, figures show. BMJ. 2015 doi: 10.1136/bmj.h1598. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Loughran CF. Reporting of fracture radiographs by radiographers: the impact of a training programme. Br J Radiol. 1994;67(802):945–950. doi: 10.1259/0007-1285-67-802-945. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Milner R, Barlow N. General practitioner satisfaction with a radiographer-led general radiography reporting service at a district general hospital in the UK. Radiography. 2021;27(1):81–89. doi: 10.1016/j.radi.2020.06.011. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. HPCSA. Ethical and professional rules of the health professions council of South Africa Radiography and Clinical Technology: RCT – Scope of Practice: Diagnostic Radiography 2020:5. RCT_Scope_of_Practice_Diagnostic_Rad_22_May_2020_for Current_Scope.pdf

LinkOut - more resources