Informed Consent in Dentomaxillofacial Radiology: A Cross- Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: This study assessed the opinions and attitudes of dentomaxillofacial (DMF) radiology physicians worldwide about informed consent in terms of oral radiology applications. 
 Methods: DMF radiology physicians in various countries were invited to this study via e-mail. The participants answered their demographic information (gender, age, years of experience, title, institution, and country), and questions about informed consent. The Pearson chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests were used for statistical analysis 
 Results: From 22 countries, 46 male (51.7%) and 43 female (48.3%) DMR radiology physicians completed the questionnaire. More than half of the participants (53.9%) were working in the university hospital, and the highest number of participants (32.6%) was from the European region. Most of the surveyors (70.8%) stated that consent is required in dental radiology. No statistically significant difference was found in the radiographic methods (intraoral, panoramic/extraoral, and cone-beam CT) applied in terms of obtaining consent (p > 0.05). While middle-aged physicians (30 –45 age) thought that patients should not be informed about the risk of radiation causing cancer, experienced participants (45 age and above) stated that information should be given about the cancer risk (p < 0.05). 
 Conclusion: The results of this study showed that most of the DMF radiology physicians stated that they have responsibility for getting informed consent and only one-third of the participants inform patients about the risks of radiation.