Assessment of the Quality of Postero-anterior Chest Radiographs Seen in a North-west Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

Objectives: To determine the quality of chest radiographs of adult patients x-rayed at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) in accordance with Committee of European Commission (CEC) guidelines on quality criteria and to determine the most common factor that affects the radiographs.

Materials and Methods: The data was collected retrospectively from the hospital archives using a data capture sheet.

Results: A total of 266 radiographs were assessed and the age of patients whose radiographs participated in the study ranged from 20-80years. Also, a greater number of male patients 147(55.3%) participated in the study than female patients 119(44.7%). Results from the study revealed that 194(72.93%) and 225(84.59%) radiographs had correct placement of patient details and anatomical marker respectively. Adequate inspiration was achieved in 223(83.83%) radiographs with presence of artifacts seen in only 17(6.39%) radiographs. Thrown-off scapulae out of lung fields was seen in 174(65.41%) radiographs while adequate penetration was demonstrated in 209(78.57%) radiographs. Fog was seen in 16(6.02%) radiographs and rotation was recorded in 86(32.33%) radiographs. Additionally, blurring and darkroom processing faults affected 9(3.38%) and 42(15.79%) radiographs respectively. The most common cause of poor quality chest radiographs was found to be inadequate collimation affecting 110(41.35%) radiographs.

Conclusion: In terms of overall quality, only about 41(15.41%) radiographs met all criteria for a standard chest radiograph according to committee of European commission.