PERFECTS (PERFormance and Evaluation for CT colonography Screening) was a multicentre, prospective cluster randomised trial that began in 2017 and closed in 2020. The aim was to determine if delivery of a structured educational programme with individualized feedback can improve reader diagnostic performance.
The study was co-led by Dr David Burling from St Mark’s Hospital and Dr Andrew Plumb from University College London. Funding was from the St Mark’s Hospital Foundation, supported by the charities 40tude, the Edith Murphy Foundation and the Peter Stebbings Memorial Charity.
Primary objective:
To determine whether an individualised educational training programme improves diagnostic sensitivity for colorectal cancer and polyps for adiologists who are already performing CT colonography in their routine clinical practice.
Key secondary objectives:
• To determine if the educational programme improves diagnostic specificity.
• To determine the durability of these changes at 6 and 12 months follow-up.
• To identify key radiologist factors associated with superior diagnostic
performance.
• To investigate the relationship between interpretation technique and diagnostic
accuracy.
Recruitment
The study closed after recruiting and randomising from 69 hospitals in England and Wales. Eighty radiologists (31 clusters) were randomly assigned to the intervention and 59 radiologists (38 clusters) to the control arm.
Outcome
Performance and evaluation in CT colonography screening: A cluster randomised trial
PERFECTS Study Team
c/o Dr Anu Obaro
Intestinal Imaging Centre
St Mark’s Hospital
email: [email protected]
