Temporal Trends in Imaging Utilization for Suspected Substance Use Disorder in an Academic Emergency Radiology Department

Abstract Purpose To assess temporal trends and utilization patterns of diagnostic imaging performed for substance use disorder (SUD)-related indications in an academic radiology emergency department (ED). Methods Retrospective analyses of ED imaging examinations acquired from 2005 to 2015 were performed. Imaging examinations performed for suspected SUD-related indications, based on the order history, were compared with those without. Unadjusted analyses comparing demographic and imaging characteristics between SUD-related versus non-SUD-related indications used Wilcoxon and Pearson’s χ 2 tests. Multivariable logistic regression models, within each imaging modality subgroup and combined, were employed to examine the odds of imaging examinations having an SUD-related indication as a function of demographic and imaging characteristics. Results Among 938,245 examinations, 0.17% had an SUD-related indication. Patients with SUD-related indications were younger (mean 37.2 ± 11.1 versus 53.5 ± 22.4, P P P P P Conclusion Imaging performed for an SUD-related indication represented a small but increasing subset of overall ED imaging. Utilization of MR for SUD-related indications significantly outpaced growth of MR without SUD-related indications.