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Epidemiology
Research
Radiologists’ perspectives about evidence-based medicine and their clinical practice: a semistructured interview study
  1. Allison Tong1,2,
  2. Suzanne E Mahady3,
  3. Jonathan C Craig1,2,
  4. Gabes Lau4,
  5. Anthony J Peduto5,
  6. Clement Loy1
  1. 1Sydney School of Public Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  2. 2Centre for Kidney Research, The Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  3. 3Storr Liver Unit, Westmead Millennium Institute, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  4. 4Otago Radiology Limited, Pacific Radiology Group, Dunedin, New Zealand
  5. 5Department of Radiology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  1. Correspondence to Dr Allison Tong; allison.tong{at}sydney.edu.au

Abstract

Objectives To describe radiologist's attitudes and perspectives on evidence-based medicine (EBM) and their practice.

Design Face-to-face semistructured interviews, thematic analysis.

Setting 24 institutions across six Australian states and New Zealand. Transcripts were imported into HyperRESEARCH software and thematically analysed.

Participants 25 radiologists.

Results Six themes were identified: legitimising decisions (validated justification, prioritising patient preferences, reinforcing protocols), optimising outcomes (ensuring patient safety, maximising efficiency), availability of access (requiring immediacy, inadequacy of evidence, time constraints, proximity of peer networks, grasping information dispersion), over-riding pragmatism (perceptibly applicability, preserving the art of medicine, technical demands), limited confidence (conceptual obscurity, reputation-based trust, demands constant practice, suspicion and cynicism), and competing powers (hierarchical conflict, prevailing commercial interests).

Conclusions Radiologists believe EBM can support clinical decision-making for optimal patient outcomes and service efficiency but feel limited in their capacities to assimilate and apply EBM in practice. Improving access to evidence, providing ongoing education and training supplemented with practical tools for appraising evidence; and developing evidence-based guidelines and protocols may enhance feasibility and promote the confidence and skills among radiologists in applying EBM in radiology practice for better patient care.

  • EPIDEMIOLOGY
  • EDUCATION & TRAINING (see Medical Education & Training)
  • QUALITATIVE RESEARCH
  • PUBLIC HEALTH
  • RADIOLOGY & IMAGING

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006199

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