Naslov
Evaluation of knowledge and perception of general practitioners about ionizing radiation in diagnostic procedures

Autori
Matković, Andro ; Ferenc, Thomas ; Dimjašević, Lucija ; Drinković, Martin ; Marelić, Marko ; Popić, Jelena ; Vidjak, Vinko

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, prošireni sažetak, znanstveni

Skup
European Congress of Radiology (ECR 2022)

Mjesto i datum
Beč, Austrija, 13.07.2022. - 17.07.2022

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Poster

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
Management ; Radiation physics ; Radioprotection / Radiation dose ; Conventional radiography CT ; MR ; Audit and standards ; Diagnostic procedure ; Education ; Education and training ; Quality assurance

Sažetak
Purpose The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and perception of general practitioners (GP) related to various imaging modalities. Methods and materials The study was conducted on a sample of 120 GPs with an average age of 44.19+/-11.85 years and a length of service in health care of 17.09+/-12.14 years. Of the total number, 69 were family medicine physicians, 28 residents, and 23 medical doctors without specialization or specialists of other specializations working as GP. Respondents were asked to complete an anonymous survey questionnaire designed to examine physicians' habits of informing patients about the procedures they are being referred to and knowledge of ionizing radiation in various radiological procedures. Results 97% of respondents believe that patients should be thoroughly informed about the examinations they are being referred to, but 11.7% of them still do not do that. When asked what decides the choice of radiological examination, the majority (69%) claim that the clinical requirement is decisive, and 27% of them say that the most important thing for the decision is to minimize radiation. Of course, all doctors know that some examinations irradiate the body of a patient undergoing it, but not everyone agrees on whether this can be harmful to the patient's health. Most of them correctly conclude that it is most dangerous to expose children to radiation. When asked about the possibility of a patient's cancer risk increasing when exposed to only one radiological examination, doctors were divided. 47% of them believe that just one exposure to radiation is enough to increase the risk, and 43% believe that it is not. When exposure is repeated, 94% of physicians believe the risk increases, but 4% of them think there is no risk. 117 doctors know that MR does not irradiate the body, but two think that CT is the one that does not radiate. 89.2% cite X-rays as the largest source of radiation, but 7.5% of doctors believe that a mobile phone is more dangerous than an X- ray. Interesting answers were obtained to the question of what the radiation dose would be in different radiological examinations if the dose on lung X- ray was taken as a unit. A significant number of respondents did not know the answer to this question, and among those who answered, there were many incorrect answers. For example, as many as 24 doctors did not know if there was radiation on a kidney ultrasound. Interestingly, although the majority of respondents were women, only 21.7% of them correctly stated the radiation dose in mammography. Conclusion Based on the analysis of the obtained results, it can be concluded that GP's knowledge of radiological examinations used in diagnostics and knowledge of ionizing radiation to which patients are exposed during these procedures is not satisfactory and therefore it is necessary to improve education in these areas. GPs have a good common practice of providing patients with information about radiological examinations but considering their understanding of radiological procedures and knowledge on radiation doses these informations are questionable.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Kliničke medicinske znanosti

POVEZANOST RADA