Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 17, 2025
Use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Biopsy Data to Guide Sampling Procedures for Prostate Cancer Biobanking
Published on: October 10, 2019
The "Hungry Judge" effect on prostate MRI reporting: Chronobiological trends from 35'004 radiologist interpretations
Anton S Becker1, Sungmin Woo2, Doris Leithner2
1Department of Radiology, NYU Langone Health and New York University, Grossman School of Medicine, 660 First Ave, New York 10012, United States. Electronic address: https://twitter.com/becker_rad.
Aim:
To investigate the associations between the hour of the day and Prostate Imaging-Reporting and Data System (PI-RADS) scores assigned by radiologists in prostate MRI reports.
Materials And Methods:
Retrospective single-center collection of prostate MRI reports over an 8-year period. Mean PI-RADS scores assigned between 0800 and 1800 h were examined with a regression model.
Results:
A total of 35'004 prostate MRI interpretations by 26 radiologists were included. A significant association between the hour of day and mean PI-RADS score was identified (β2 = 0.005, p < 0.001), with malignant scores more frequently assigned later in the day.
Conclusion:
These findings suggest chronobiological factors may contribute to variability in radiological assessments. Though the magnitude of the effect is small, this may potentially add variability and impact diagnostic accuracy.
