Don’t blink: inattentional blindness in radiology report interpretation

Abstract

Objectives: Medical errors attributable to inattentional blindness (IAB) may contribute to adverse patient outcomes. IAB has not been studied in the context of reviewing written radiological reports. This cross-sectional, deception-controlled study measures IAB of physicians towards an unexpected stimulus while interpreting written radiological reports. Methods: ). Primary outcomes were differences in detection rates for the two stimuli. Secondary outcomes were differences in detection rates based on level of training and specialty. Results: < 0.0001). No differences in outcomes were observed between training levels or specialties. Conclusion: Only a minority of physicians successfully detected an unexpected stimulus while interpreting written radiological reports. They were more likely to detect an abnormal non-medical stimulus than a medical stimulus. Findings were independent of the level of training or field of medical practice. Advances in knowledge: This study is the first to show that IAB is indeed present among internal medicine, family medicine, and emergency medicine providers when interpreting written radiology reports.

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