Rate of Radiology Resident Recognition of Non-Accidental Trauma: How Well do Residents Perform?

Results to be exhibited at ARRS 2019 Annual Meeting

Leesburg, VA, May 7, 2019—Radiology residency programs nationwide are not adequately teaching residents to accurately recognize and report child abuse, according to a study to be presented at the ARRS 2019 Annual Meeting, set for May 5-10 in Honolulu, HI.

The study was conducted to determine the ability of radiology residents to identify nonaccidental trauma. 

Between 2014 and 2018, 996 radiology residents in various stages of training from programs across the country were given a case of nonaccidental trauma among 65 cases of varying difficulty with the Emergent/Critical Care Imaging SIMulation (WIDI SIM) web-based test platform.

Child abuse was consistently undercalled by the radiology residents being tested. The overall average correctly called rate over the 5 year period was 37.6%. Average correctly called rates varied from 7% to 79% per year. Higher correct call rates were associated with cases with leading histories.

The results suggest radiology residency programs are currently failing to adequately teach residents to recognize and report child abuse. For programs in which a radiology attending is not present at night, the resident taking overnight calls must be better trained to notify clinicians of a concern and facilitate procedures to protect children from additional harm.

“With the increasing rates of child abuse reported year over year, the observation and interpretation of the imaging findings associated with child abuse is of the upmost importance” Priya Sharma, MD, author of the study said.

With educational activities representing the entire spectrum of radiology, ARRS will host leading radiologists from around the world at the ARRS 2019 Annual Meeting, May 5–10, at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. For more information, visit: https://www.arrs.org/am19