title: Accuracy of Non-Contrast CT Brain Interpretation by Emergency Physicians: A cohort study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the accuracy of emergency physicians (EPs) in the interpretation of non-contrast CT Brain (NCCT Brain) by examining the inter rater reliability between EPs and radiology specialists.
  
  
  METHODS
  A four months prospective cohort study was conducted at emergency department of King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We studied the daily performance of our EPs, and compared it to the radiological report issued within the week after. Data were analyzed by calculating sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and agreement (kappa statistic), using radiology report as the reference standard. Results : Out of 241 cases eligible for the study, 210 (87.14%) were concordant, and 31 (12.86%) were discordant. The agreement (kappa) was to be 0.64. Conclusion : We concluded that our EPs are moderately accurate at interpreting NCCT Brain studies. Further education and training programs were necessary for all our EPs to improve the accuracy. Further studies are required to determine the most cost-effective method of minimizing consequential misinterpretations.
authors.affiliation: Anas Khan, MBBS, SBEM, ABHS-EM, MHA, Emergency Medicine, Consultant, King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Anas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: Sami Qashqari, MBBS, FRCP (C), Emergency Medicine, Consultant, King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Sami
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Qashqari
authors.affiliation: Abdul-Aziz Al-Ali, MBBS, SBEM, ABHS-EM, Emergency Medicine, Chief Resident, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Abdul-Aziz
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Al-Ali
keywords: Accuracy; Brain; Computed tomography (CT); Emergency; Interpretation