Awareness of Radiation Protection Measures among Radiologists and Non-Radiologists

Abstract

Background: More than 3,600 million radiology examinations are carried out every year worldwide. In spite of the great benefits of diagnostic and therapeutic radiations, they may result in some hazards if used inappropriately. However, these hazards can be prevented through raising the awareness of health care professionals about these hazards and the protective measures to be considered. Several guidelines and regulations were issued for this purpose including; the POPUMET regulations and ALARA principle and the WHO global initiative on radiation safety in health care settings. Aim: The current study aimed at assessing the level of radiation protection awareness among clinicians and radiologists in addition to exploring if radiation protection courses have a beneficial effect on the awareness level or not. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study where the level of radiation protection awareness was assessed using an anonymous questionnaire. Results: A total of 101 (100%) participants responded to the questionnaire. Of which; 49 (48.5%) were residents, 30 (29.7%) were specialists and 22 participants (21.8%) were consultants. Slightly less than half of the participants (48, 47.5%) have attended a radiation protection course before. The majority of participants who attended a course (68.8%) have heard about the POPUMET regulations (p<0.001). Participants were asked about the procedures with risk equivalent to 0.25 mSy of radiation estimated dose equivalent. And it was found that course attendance improved the knowledge about the risk of 3 (out of 4) procedures (p 0.05) or the degree of radio-sensitivity of different organs (p>0.05). The majority of the participants (96%) were not aware that there is no annual limit of radiation dose for patients. Around half of the participants (56.4%) were aware about what the word “ALARA” stands for. Conclusion: Results of the current study suggested that the level of radiation protection awareness among health care professionals is not sufficient to ensure patients and workers’ safety. And accordingly, we suggested that more efficient awareness programs for health care professionals are conducted on regular basis with regular monitoring of awareness level to explore areas for improvement.