Association of Demographic Variables and Oral Contrast Protocol With Abdominal Computed Tomography Scan Waiting Times

Abstract

With the increased number of patients seeking care at emergency departments, physicians are increasingly relying on scarce imaging resources such as computed tomography (CT). This retrospective study aimed to identify any demographic variables (e.g., age, sex, race, socioeconomic status) associated with increased CT scan time intervals and to determine if a change in oral contrast protocol in November 2014 led to decreased waiting times for abdominal CT scans. Our analysis indicates that gender and insurance type are associated with increased abdominal CT scan waiting times and that the oral contrast protocol change on November 17, 2014 led to a statistically significant reduction in waiting times for all demographic and contrast groups.