• Shrooq T Al-Dahery, Walaa M Alsharif, Fatima H Alamri, Shahad A Nawawi, Wed K Mofti, Fahad H Alhazmi, Khalid M Alshamrani, Awadia G Suliman, and Abdulaziz A Qurashi.
• From the Department of Applied Radiologic Technology (Al-Dahery, Alamri, Nawawi), College of Applied Medical Sciences, and from the Faculty of Medicine (Mofti), University of Jeddah; from the College of Applied Medical Sciences (Alshamrani), King Saud bin Abdulaziz, University for Health Sciences; from the Department of Radiological Sciences (Alshamrani). King Abdullah International Medical Research Center; from the Ministry of the National Guard - Health Affairs (Alshamrani), Jeddah; and from the Diagnostic Radiology Technology Department (Alsharif, Alhazmi, Suliman, Qurashi), College of Applied Medical Sciences, Taibah University, Al Madinah Al Munawwarah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• Saudi Med J. 2023 Feb 1; 44 (2): 202210202-210.

ObjectivesTo evaluate the role of teleradiology during the COVID-19 pandemic from Saudi radiologists' perspectives to improve the radiology quality service.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out in Saudi Arabia among radiologists working at local hospitals from October to November 2021. It contains 21 questions involved demographic information; general information on teleradiology services; and the impact of teleradiology during COVID-19. One-way ANOVA was used to compare demographic groups. Chi-square test was used to compare demographic groups regarding their distribution of responses. All tests were carried out <0.05 level of significance.ResultsA total of 102 radiologists participated in this study (56% males, 44% females), 58.8% of them were sub-specialized in chest radiology. Regarding the general status of teleradiology, 69.6% of participants believed that teleradiology is a helpful tool for imaging interpretation. However, 44% of them were uncertain on the impact of teleradiology on patients' confidentiality. Approximately 87% of participants agreed that there is a positive contribution of teleradiology during COVID-19, which enables decreasing risk of infection and workload. There was a significant difference between professional degrees and overall participant responses (p<0.05). Academicians agreed that it enhances radiology departments' work (mean=17.78, SD=1.86).ConclusionConcerns raised on complicated cases that require physical presence of patients, cannot be performed by teleradiology. Additionally, it might provide insufficient communication with other professionals to discuss images.Copyright: © Saudi Medical Journal.

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