The Neonate CXR'S Quality Appraisal at Both Governmental and Non-Governmental Hospitals in Jerusalem and Bethlehem

Abstract

The study evaluated chest AP radiographs for NICU infants at Al-Makkased Islamic Charitable Hospital (MICH) and Beit Jala Governmental Hospital (BJGH) for their quality. All newborns hospitalized at Al-Makkased and Beit Jala Governmental Hospitals between November 1 and November 30 2022 were examined using a descriptive research methodology. The frequencies of the variables, such as radiation doses, location clues, and collimation, were extracted from the data using SPSS v21. During the research period, 186 CXRs and 80 CXRs from Makkased Hospital and Beit Jala Governmental Hospitals, were collected. The study assessed the radiation exposure given to patients and identified the proportion of patients at Al-Makkased and Beit Jala hospitals who were overexposed compared to those who were underexposed. While in Beit Jala 75% of patients were overexposed and 21% were underexposed, in Al-Makkased just 7% of patients were overexposed and 88% of patients were underexposed. In addition to the assessment of the image's quality, the study revealed several faults, including rotation, which was 53% in Al-Makkased and 72% in Beit Jala, and tilt, which was 71.5 % in Al-Makkased and 72.2 % in Beit Jala. Additionally, the non-sided collimation was 98.9% in AL-Makkased and 97.5 percent in Beit Jala. According to the study's findings, the DAP value for the samples taken from Beit Jala Hospital was higher than that found in the reference study. Depending on the exposure index value, the underexposed patients at Al-Makkased Hospital outnumbered the overexposed patients. Both hospitals, Al-Makkased and Beit Jala showed poor picture quality for newborns, with numerous photos exhibiting tilt, rotation, and opening collimation.