Assistants’ and interns’ knowledge and attitudes about radiation in the emergency department: a survey-based study

Abstract

Background: To evaluate assistants’ and interns’ knowledge and attitudes about radiation associated with diagnostic imaging and to describe their practice with the most preferred imaging techniques in the emergency department. Material and methods: The prepared survey consists of 2 sections, namely general information about radiation and information about the preferred imaging techniques in the emergency department. The survey was applied to the academic staff in the emergency department of the university hospital. Results: A total of 85 participants, including assistants and interns, participated in the study. Most of the participants (92.9%) agreed with the "People may be exposed to radiation because of radiation sources outside the body or radioactive material accumulated in the body" view. However, the detectors were the most important determinants of radiation dose performance in the Computed Tomography System and very few of the participants (7.1%) agreed with the "As the number of detectors increases in the Computed Tomography scan, the amount of radiation reduces" view. Conclusion: In the emergency department, medical imaging techniques support the clinical decision and therefore the rapid techniques are more frequently used. In order to prevent the patient from being exposed to excessive and unnecessary radiation, the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Ultrasonography in emergency departments should be expanded. In addition, it is important to provide radiation trainings and to raise awareness of health personnel about radiation so that they don’t expose the patient to unnecessary or excessive radiation.

Keywords

• emergency department
• imaging techniques
• radiation