Long sessions in radiology reading rooms can tire most radiologists, but research published in the November issue of Academic Radiology outlines several steps that can be taken to reduce fatigue.
In the study, Japanese researchers determined that fatigue was caused by a number of factors, including, but not limited to, average number of images per case read, average time to interpret a case, number of years of experience reading images and corrected vision acuity.
Three of the factors--visual acuity, ambient luminance, and the type of LCD used--are adjustable, according to the researchers, and therefore can be altered to help radiologists reduce their fatigue levels.
"Our findings suggest that it is necessary for male radiologists to increase the ambient illuminance in a reading room, use an appropriate type of LCD, and improve corrected visual acuity with contact lenses rather than eyeglasses to effectively decrease fatigue in clinical practice," the researchers wrote. Abstract