When ignorance is not bliss – a study of poor awareness of radiation exposure

Abstract

Introduction and objective:

Patient safety is at the forefront of quality of care. Radiation exposure secondary to diagnostic imaging is increasing rapidly. Coupled with clinicians’ lack of awareness concerning radiation, doses incurred during these common procedures mean patients are being exposed to substantial cumulative radiation. Recent publications have indicated a significant minority of cancers are secondary to medical ionising radiation. The purpose of this study was to establish physician knowledge of radiation dosages.

Methods:

Clinician knowledge of radiation doses was determined by a questionnaire distributed to 40 doctors across all specialties in a District General Hospital in England. Clinicians were asked to estimate the radiation dose incurred during common diagnostic investigations, environmental exposure and the relation to increased cancer risk. The results were correlated against seniority and previous formal education on ionising radiation.

Results:

Clinician knowledge of radiation doses was poor with a mean score of 17% (range 0–44%). There was, on average, more than a 12-fold underestimation of radiation exposure levels across all grades and specialties of doctors. Those with previous formal education outperformed those without, but not significantly (p > 0.05).

Conclusions:

Clinician awareness surrounding radiation doses of common diagnostic modalities is poor, grossly underestimating the true values. Increasing seniority or prior formal radiology training did not significantly alter the outcome. There is a need to educate clinicians, raise radiation dose awareness and avoid the financial, medico-legal and health delivery implications of unnecessary patient exposure to radiation.