Health Insurance Ownership and Quality of Computed Tomography Requests: Experience from a Peripheral Referral Hospital in Cameroon

BACKGROUND: Health insurance ownership facilitates access and minimizes financial hardship after utilization of healthcare services such as computed tomography (CT). Understanding the rational utilization of CT by people with health insurance can help optimize the scheme and provide baseline information for a national universal health coverage program. OBJECTIVE: To assess the relationship between health insurance ownership and the appropriateness of requests for CT in a peripheral referral hospital in Cameroon. METHODS: A survey of CT users was conducted during which information on health insurance ownership was collected and the request forms for CT assessed for appropriateness using the American College of Radiologists (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria®. RESULTS: We consecutively enrolled 372 participants of which 167 (45%) were females. The median age (range) was 52 (18–92) years. Thirty-eight out of 370 participants reported having health insurance (10.3%; 95% confidence interval (CI): 7.2%–13.4%). Twenty-nine out of 352 CT scan requests (8.2%; 95% CI: 5.3–11.0) were judged to be “inappropriate.” The proportion of inappropriate scan requests was higher amongst people with health insurance compared to those without health insurance (18.4% vs. 7.0%; χ(2) = 5.8; p=0.02). In the logistic regression analysis, health insurance ownership was associated to the appropriateness of CT requests in the univariate analysis only (OR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.13–0.84; p=0.020). CONCLUSIONS: Inappropriate requests for CT were low but nevertheless associated to health insurance ownership. The continuous sensitization and training of physicians would help minimize potential wasteful utilization of resources.