Author(s)

Moulion Tapouh Jean Roger^1,2, Djomou Wandji Franck Arold³, Mbede Maggy^3,4, Moifo Boniface^3,5

¹Bafoussam Regional Hospital Center, Bafoussam, Cameroon.
²Department of Radiology, Biophysics and Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon.
³Department of Medical Imaging and Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, University of Yaounde I, Yaounde, Cameroon.
⁴Yaounde Central Hospital, Yaounde, Cameroon.
⁵Gynaeco-Obstetric and Pediatric Hospital of Yaounde, Yaounde, Cameroon.

Background: Despite the availability of guidelines, the requests for medical imaging examinations for the exploration of low back pain remain irrelevant in the majority of cases. Objective: To assess the impact of requester training on the justification of lumbar spine X-rays for low back pain in adults in Yaounde. Materials and Methods: We carried out an interventional study from December 2017 to April 2018 in Yaounde (Cameroon). We analyzed the relevance of the prescription of X-rays for low back pain before and after an interactive training of the requesters. Results: Among the 16 requesters who were trained, the proportion of irrelevant requests dropped from 58.22% (46/79) before training to 44.44% (20/45) after training, representing a decrease of 13.78% (p = 0.012). The highest drop in the proportion of irrelevant requests was found among general practitioners (-21.98%) and requesters having less than 10 years of experience in medical practice (-31.8%). Conclusion: The training of requesters moderately reduces the rate of irrelevant examinations. Other factors of irrelevant prescription must be investigated and corrected for this decrease to be more significant.

Guidelines, Low Back Pain, Training, Requesters, Justification

Roger, M. , Arold, D. , Maggy, M. and Boniface, M. (2022) The Effect of Requester Training on the Relevance of Lumbar Spine X-Ray Request for Low Back Pain in Adults at Yaounde. Open Journal of Radiology, 12, 8-16. doi: 10.4236/ojrad.2022.121002.