<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>In low- and middle-income countries, chest radiographs are most frequently interpreted by non-radiologist clinicians.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>We examined the reliability of chest radiograph interpretations performed by non-radiologist clinicians in Botswana and conducted an educational intervention aimed at improving chest radiograph interpretation accuracy among non-radiologist clinicians.</p>

<p><strong>MATERIALS AND METHODS: </strong>We recruited non-radiologist clinicians at a referral hospital in Gaborone, Botswana, to interpret de-identified chest radiographs for children with clinical pneumonia. We compared their interpretations with those of two board-certified pediatric radiologists in the United States. We evaluated associations between level of medical training and the accuracy of chest radiograph findings between groups, using logistic regression and kappa statistics. We then developed an in-person training intervention led by a pediatric radiologist. We asked participants to interpret 20 radiographs before and immediately after the intervention, and we compared their responses to those of the facilitating radiologist. For both objectives, our primary outcome was the identification of primary endpoint pneumonia, defined by the World Health Organization as presence of endpoint consolidation or endpoint effusion.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Twenty-two clinicians interpreted chest radiographs in the primary objective; there were no significant associations between level of training and correct identification of endpoint pneumonia; concordance between respondents and radiologists was moderate (κ=0.43). After the training intervention, participants improved agreement with the facilitating radiologist for endpoint pneumonia from fair to moderate (κ=0.34 to κ=0.49).</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Non-radiologist clinicians in Botswana do not consistently identify key chest radiographic findings of pneumonia. A targeted training intervention might improve non-radiologist clinicians' ability to interpret chest radiographs.</p>

<p><strong>BACKGROUND: </strong>Chest radiography is increasingly used to diagnose pneumonia in low-income and middle-income countries. Few studies examined whether chest radiographic findings predict outcomes of children with clinically suspected pneumonia in these settings.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This is a hospital-based, prospective cohort study of children 1-23 months of age meeting clinical criteria for pneumonia in Botswana. Chest radiographs were reviewed by 2 pediatric radiologists to generate a consensus interpretation using standardized World Health Organization criteria. We assessed whether final chest radiograph classification was associated with our primary outcome, treatment failure at 48 hours, and secondary outcomes.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>From April 2012 to November 2014, we enrolled 249 children with evaluable chest radiographs. Median age was 6.1 months, and 58% were male. Chest radiograph classifications were primary endpoint pneumonia (35%), other infiltrate/abnormality (42%) or no significant pathology (22%). The prevalence of endpoint consolidation was higher in children with HIV infection (P = 0.0005), whereas endpoint pleural effusions were more frequent among children with moderate or severe malnutrition (P = 0.0003). Ninety-one (37%) children failed treatment, and 12 (4.8%) children died. Primary endpoint pneumonia was associated with an increased risk of treatment failure at 48 hours (P = 0.002), a requirement for more days of respiratory support (P = 0.002) and a longer length of stay (P = 0.0003) compared with no significant pathology. Primary endpoint pneumonia also predicted a higher risk of treatment failure than other infiltrate/abnormality (P = 0.004).</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Chest radiograph provides useful prognostic information for children meeting clinical criteria for pneumonia in Botswana. These findings highlight the potential benefit of expanded global access to diagnostic radiology services.</p>