Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38009579›Full record

ArticleJournal of medical radiation sciences2024

Quality audits of nuclear medicine practices in a middle-income African setting.

Magdalena Lutaka, Aladdin Speelman, Subhadranalene Naidoo, Roswita Hamunyela

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of medical radiation sciences, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
1.3field-weighted citation impact, top 15% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 3 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Magdalena LutakaMaster of Science Radiography Degree Programme, Department of Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), Bellville, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9258-4079
Aladdin SpeelmanDepartment of Medical Imaging and Therapeutic Sciences, Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0488-0343
Subhadranalene NaidooDepartment of Radiography, Faculty of Health Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1011-0118
Roswita HamunyelaDepartment of Radiography, School of Radiography, School of Allied Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-6915-756X
Cape Peninsula University of Technology · ZADurban University of Technology · ZAUniversity of Namibia · NA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) introduced a Quality Management Audits in Nuclear Medicine (QUANUM) programme, to improve nuclear medicine practice standards aligned with international standards through self-assessments. The absence of quality management audits in nuclear medicine departments could potentially result in a compromise in the safety and quality of patient care. To date, there is no evidence that quality audits have been conducted in nuclear medicine departments of this middle-income country. This quality audit, therefore, assessed conformance to the IAEA QUANUM programme in four nuclear medicine departments.

methodsThe study adopted a quantitative methodological exploratory approach. The IAEA QUANUM programme was used to audit nuclear medicine services' overall activity such as clinical practice, management, radiopharmacy, general and radiation safety, quality assurance, operations and services. The data was collected via document analysis in four nuclear medicine department identified as Sites A-D.

resultsOverall results showed that Site A conformed with 247 out of 370 (67%) counts and non-conformed with 123 out of 370 (33%) counts whilst Site B conformed with 205 out of 342 (60%) counts and non-conformed with 137 out of 342 counts (40%). Site C conformed with 259 out of 345 (75%) counts and non-conformed with 86 out of 345 (25%) counts. Site D conformed with 166 out of 349 (48%) counts and non-conformed with 183 out of 349 (52%) counts. The study yielded 125 overall recommendations.

conclusionsAll the sites demonstrated good compliance to international standards in radionuclide therapy. Site A complied poorly in strategies and policies, whilst Site B complied poorly in quality control of equipment. Site C showed poor compliance to human resource development and Site D showed aspects pertaining to administration and management as well as evaluation of quality systems.

Indexed as

Nuclear MedicineHumansIncomeMedical AuditQuality Assurance, Health CareAuditconformanceinternational reference standardsqualityQUANUM

Identifiers

PMID38009579
PMCPMC11177013
OpenAlexW4389037265

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.