Iranian physicians\' knowledge about radiation dose, received by patients in diagnostic radiology

Background: Although ionizing radiation is widely used to diagnose many diseases, the relevant hazards are known to be as an important limitation of its application. It is believed that the awareness of ionizing radiation dose values is one of the main stages in patient's radiation protection. The purpose of this study has been to investigate the level of physicians' knowledge about radiation doses received by patients in radiological examinations. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire was designed and the most commonly requested radiological investigations were listed. Participants (155 physicians) were asked to identify the average dose of radiation received by patients when they underwent a posterior-anterior hand X-ray. Then, it was utilized to represent a single dose of radiation, and physicians were asked to estimate the equivalent doses of radiation for other radiological examinations. Several questions were also included about dose measurement's units and low exposure risk investigations. Results: The results indicated that only 58.3% of physicians know the units of radiation absorb dose measurement units. Most of them could not correctly estimate the amount of radiation dose received by patients in a routine radiography of hand and majority of them underestimated the radiation dose of other radiological examinations. Conclusion: Despite of passing medical physics course, during studentship, it does seem that most of medical doctors did not have enough knowledge about the amount of radiation received by patients led for diagnostic radiology investigations. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2009 6 (4): 207-212