Clinical Auditing of CT Request Forms Seen in a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

Abstract Introduction: Computed Tomography (CT) uses a high radiation dose compared to conventional X-ray; therefore, justification for every investigation is necessary to prevent unnecessary scans and exposure to radiation. Moreover, a properly filled CT scan form will enable medical imaging decisions to be made. It will also serve as a basis for justification of the investigation required and a valuable medico-legal document.

Objectives

To audit the CT scan request forms and determine the level of completion of the request forms presented to the CT unit in University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH).

Methods

CT forms received between January and June 2023 were retrospectively audited using a quantitative approach. A structured checklist was used to collect data from randomly selected filled-out request forms. The adequacy of filling in different fields in the request forms, such as patient's name, sex, age, clinical history, renal function test, doctor’s name, contact, etc., was reviewed. The data were analysed using SPSS version 21.0. Descriptive statistics were adopted in the statistical analysis.