Perceptions of radiography students towards completeness of radiology request forms at Mulago National Referral Hospital

Abstract

Introduction: The radiology request form (RRF) is one of the means of communication between the referring clinicians and radiographers/radiologists. A completely filled RRF is therefore invaluable towards the effective patient handling and management during his/her visit in the radiology department. However, incompletely filled RRFs present challenges to the radiologists, radiographers and also the inexperienced radiography students in connecting the missing links of the patient information, thus delaying patient management. This study was aimed at exploring the perceptions of undergraduate radiography students about the completeness of RRFs at Mulago National Referral Hospital.

Methods: An exploratory qualitative study was used involving 18 undergraduate radiography students. The students were sampled purposively and data obtained using interviews and questionnaires. Thematic analysis was employed.

Results: Three main themes were identified from the data: (1) interpretation of RRFs (2) implications of incomplete RRFs, and (3) compliance with the standards of RRFs. All the students agreed to often have encountered incompletely filled RRFs during their clinical practice at MNRH. They also reported facing challenges when interpreting the RRFs for example inadequate patient history and illegible hand writing. The students generally reported that incomplete RRFs can have serious implications on patient management. Students suggested possible measures to mitigate the incomplete filling of RRFs for example utilizing CMEs.

Conclusion: This study highlights the fact that a number of RRFs presented at MNRH are inadequately filled. Furthermore, various challenges are encountered when interpreting RRFs which could be associated with serious implications towards patient care and management. These deficiencies create obstacles not just for students, but also for seasoned radiographers and radiologists in reaching accurate diagnoses. The issue of incompletely filled RRFs therefore needs to be addressed so as to improve diagnostic accuracy and ultimately, enhance patient outcomes.

Recommendation: Because, there is limited literature concerning perceptions of radiography students on RRFs filling, more research should be conducted regarding radiography students’ perceptions on the filling of RRFs in the different radiography training hospitals in Uganda other than MNRH.