Impact of routine admission chest X-ray films on patient care

Journal Article · Thu Jan 24 00:00:00 EST 1985 · N.Engl. J. Med.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJM198501243120404· OSTI ID:5445819

Hubbell, F A; Greenfield, S; Tyler, J L; Chetty, K; Wyle, F A

The authors evaluated the impact of routine chest X-ray films, obtained on admission, on the treatment of patients on internal medicine wards of the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Long Beach, California - a population known to have a high prevalence of cardiopulmonary disease. The reasons for ordering chest films were determined prospectively, and three Department of Medicine faculty members reviewed the charts of admitted patients to determine the impact of chest-film results on patient care. Routine chest X-ray films were ordered for 294 (60 per cent) of the 491 patients studied. Abnormalities were noted in 106 (36 per cent) of these 294 patients. The findings were previously known, chronic, and stable in 86 patients; they were new in only 20. Treatment was changed because of chest-film results in only 12 (4 per cent) of the patients. In only one of these patients would appropriate treatment probably have been omitted if a chest film had not been obtained, and the patient's outcome was not improved by the treatment instituted. The authors conclude that the impact of routine admission chest X-ray films on patient care is very small, even in a population with a high prevalence of cardiopulmonary disease. They recommend that such films not be ordered solely because of admission. 16 references, 3 tables.

• Research Organization: Univ. of California, Irvine
• OSTI ID: 5445819
• Journal Information: N.Engl. J. Med.; (United States), Vol. 312:4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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