Bridging Communication Gaps Between Radiologists, Referring Physicians, and Patients Through Standardized Structured Cancer Imaging Reporting: The Experience with Female Pelvic MRI Assessment Using O-RADS and a Simulated Cohort Patient Group

Abstract

Rationale and objectives: This study aimed to evaluate whether implementing structured reporting based on Ovarian-Adnexal Reporting and Data System (O-RADS) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in women with sonographically indeterminate adnexal masses improves communication between radiologists, referrers, and patients/caregivers and enhances diagnostic performance for determining adnexal malignancy.

Materials and methods: We retrospectively analyzed prospectively issued MRI reports in 2019-2022 performed for characterizing adnexal masses before and after implementing O-RADS MRI; 56 patients/caregivers and nine gynecologic oncologists ("referrers") were surveyed about report interpretability/clarity/satisfaction; responses for pre- and post-implementation reports were compared using Fisher's exact and Chi-squared tests. Diagnostic performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves.

Results: A total of 123 reports from before and 119 reports from after O-RADS MRI implementation were included. Survey response rates were 35.7% (20/56) for patients/caregivers and 66.7% (6/9) for referrers. For patients/caregivers, O-RADS MRI reports were clearer (p < 0.001) and more satisfactory (p < 0.001) than unstructured reports, but interpretability did not differ significantly (p = 0.14), as 28.0% (28/100) of postimplementation and 38.0% (38/100) of preimplementation reports were considered difficult to interpret. For referrers, O-RADS MRI reports were clearer, more satisfactory, and easier to interpret (p < 0.001); only 1.3% (1/77) were considered difficult to interpret. For differentiating benign from malignant adnexal lesions, O-RADS MRI showed area under the curve of 0.92 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.85-0.99), sensitivity of 0.81 (95% CI, 0.58-0.95), and specificity of 0.91 (95% CI, 0.83-0.96). Diagnostic performance of reports before implementation could not be calculated due to many different phrases used to describe the likelihood of malignancy.

Conclusion: Implementing standardized structured reporting using O-RADS MRI for characterizing adnexal masses improved clarity and satisfaction for patients/caregivers and referrers. Interpretability improved for referrers but remained limited for patients/caregivers.

Keywords: Communication; O-RADS MRI; Patient; Referrer; Structured reporting.