Appropriateness of radiological diagnostic tests in otolaryngology

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the appropriateness of imaging tests associated with radiation in the field of otolaryngology according to the available recommendations, and to estimate the effective radiation dose associated. METHOD: Cross-sectional epidemiological study of the totality of the imaging test requests carried out by two Spanish hospitals (n = 1931). We collected the following information: patient demographic data, type of imaging test, imaging tests referred in the previous 12 months, referrer department and diagnostic suspicion. In accordance with the available guidelines, we considered the requests: (a) Appropriate; (b) Inappropriate; (c) Not adequately justified; (d) Not included in the guidelines. We calculated the prevalence of each category and their variation according to the different variables. Collective and per capita effective dose were calculated for each category. RESULTS: Of the 538 requests, 42% were considered appropriate, 34.4% inappropriate, 11.9% not adequately justified and 11.7% not included in the guidelines. Imaging tests requested by general partitioners (aOR: 0.18; 95% CI: 0.06–0.50) and clinical departments (aOR: 0.27; 95% CI: 0.11–0.60) were less likely to be considered appropriate than those requested by the Otolaryngology department. Patients with a diagnosis suspicion of tumour pathology were more likely to have a requested imaging test classified as appropriate (aOR: 7.12; 95% CI: 3.25–15.61). The cumulative effective dose was 877.8 mSv, of which 40% corresponded to tests classified as inappropriate. CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of imaging tests are considered as inappropriate in the field of otolaryngology, with a relevant frequency of associated effective radiation dose. Type of department, the diagnostic suspicion and the type of imaging tests were variables associated to the inappropriateness of the test.