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Incidental chest radiographic findings in adult patients with acute cough

Incidental chest radiographic findings in adult patients with acute cough
Incidental chest radiographic findings in adult patients with acute cough
Purpose: imaging may produce unexpected or incidental findings with consequences for patients and ordering of future investigations. Chest radiography in patients with acute cough is among the most common reasons for imaging in primary care, but data on associated incidental findings are lacking. We set out to describe the type and prevalence of incidental chest radiography findings in primary care patients with acute cough.

Methods: we report on data from a cross-sectional study in 16 European primary care networks on 3,105 patients with acute cough, all of whom were undergoing chest radiography as part of a research study workup. Apart from assessment for specified signs of pneumonia and acute bronchitis, local radiologists were asked to evaluate any additional finding on the radiographs. For the 2,823 participants with good-quality chest radiographs, these findings were categorized according to clinical relevance based on previous research evidence and analyzed for type and prevalence by network, sex, age, and smoking status.

Results: incidental findings were reported in 19% of all participants, and ranged from 0% to 25% by primary care network, with the network being an independent contributor (P <.001). Of all participants 3% had clinically relevant incidental findings. Suspected nodules and shadows were reported in 1.8%. Incidental findings were more common is older participants and smokers (P <. 001).

Conclusions: clinically relevant incidental findings on chest radiographs in primary care adult patients with acute cough are uncommon, and prevalence varies by setting
1544-1709
510-515
Vugt, S. van
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Broekhuizen, L.
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Zuithoff, N.
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De Jong, P.
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Butler, C.
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Hood, K.
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Coenen, S.
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Goossens, H.
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Little, P.
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Almirall, J.
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Blasi, F.
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Chlabicz, S.
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Davies, M.
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Godycki-Cwirko, M.
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Hupkova, H.
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Kersnik, J.
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Mierzecki, A.
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Molstad, S.
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Moore, M.
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Schaberg, T.
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De Sutter, A.
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Torres, A.
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Touboul, P.
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Verheij, T.
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Vugt, S. van
53e4aac4-49d6-4b30-998a-77bdda0ab8ba
Broekhuizen, L.
87f94aef-2d83-45e9-ab72-74888ec324a3
Zuithoff, N.
fa5af62a-8684-410d-8768-d1e28b0bb003
De Jong, P.
61b6af4a-3012-4902-96f0-d18932c15b35
Butler, C.
7fb510dd-3e7b-4a9a-809c-5c1549b1e7f1
Hood, K.
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Coenen, S.
9afe2a52-9f4f-45bb-b8e5-c6ee3eeb3498
Goossens, H.
533640f7-b568-4d95-a7c1-28158d154ba8
Little, P.
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Almirall, J.
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Blasi, F.
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Chlabicz, S.
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Davies, M.
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Godycki-Cwirko, M.
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Hupkova, H.
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Kersnik, J.
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Mierzecki, A.
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Molstad, S.
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Moore, M.
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Schaberg, T.
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De Sutter, A.
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Torres, A.
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Touboul, P.
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Verheij, T.
cc355b92-ba85-4102-98a0-cee55f0504f6

Vugt, S. van, Broekhuizen, L., Zuithoff, N., De Jong, P., Butler, C., Hood, K., Coenen, S., Goossens, H., Little, P., Almirall, J., Blasi, F., Chlabicz, S., Davies, M., Godycki-Cwirko, M., Hupkova, H., Kersnik, J., Mierzecki, A., Molstad, S., Moore, M., Schaberg, T., De Sutter, A., Torres, A., Touboul, P. and Verheij, T. (2012) Incidental chest radiographic findings in adult patients with acute cough. Annals of Family Medicine, 10 (6), 510-515. (doi:10.1370/afm.1384).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Purpose: imaging may produce unexpected or incidental findings with consequences for patients and ordering of future investigations. Chest radiography in patients with acute cough is among the most common reasons for imaging in primary care, but data on associated incidental findings are lacking. We set out to describe the type and prevalence of incidental chest radiography findings in primary care patients with acute cough.

Methods: we report on data from a cross-sectional study in 16 European primary care networks on 3,105 patients with acute cough, all of whom were undergoing chest radiography as part of a research study workup. Apart from assessment for specified signs of pneumonia and acute bronchitis, local radiologists were asked to evaluate any additional finding on the radiographs. For the 2,823 participants with good-quality chest radiographs, these findings were categorized according to clinical relevance based on previous research evidence and analyzed for type and prevalence by network, sex, age, and smoking status.

Results: incidental findings were reported in 19% of all participants, and ranged from 0% to 25% by primary care network, with the network being an independent contributor (P <.001). Of all participants 3% had clinically relevant incidental findings. Suspected nodules and shadows were reported in 1.8%. Incidental findings were more common is older participants and smokers (P <. 001).

Conclusions: clinically relevant incidental findings on chest radiographs in primary care adult patients with acute cough are uncommon, and prevalence varies by setting

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More information

Published date: November 2012
Organisations: Primary Care & Population Sciences

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 347574
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/347574
ISSN: 1544-1709
PURE UUID: 65c38760-3912-4960-ab9c-8622ca9da193
ORCID for P. Little: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-3664-1873
ORCID for M. Moore: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-5127-4509

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 25 Jan 2013 14:35
Last modified: 11 Jul 2024 01:43

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Contributors

Author: S. van Vugt
Author: L. Broekhuizen
Author: N. Zuithoff
Author: P. De Jong
Author: C. Butler
Author: K. Hood
Author: S. Coenen
Author: H. Goossens
Author: P. Little ORCID iD
Author: J. Almirall
Author: F. Blasi
Author: S. Chlabicz
Author: M. Davies
Author: M. Godycki-Cwirko
Author: H. Hupkova
Author: J. Kersnik
Author: A. Mierzecki
Author: S. Molstad
Author: M. Moore ORCID iD
Author: T. Schaberg
Author: A. De Sutter
Author: A. Torres
Author: P. Touboul
Author: T. Verheij

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