Ionising radiation awareness among resident doctors, interns, and radiographers in a university hospital emergency department

Purpose In emergency medicine practice, radiological investigations relying on ionising radiation are increasingly used to diagnose a wide range of diseases and injuries. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge of radiation exposure doses and risks among interns, resident doctors, and radiographers. Materials and methods A questionnaire, consisting of 14 questions in multiple choice format, was distributed to 300 participants (100 interns, 100 radiographers, 100 resident doctors) working in the emergency department. The participants were asked to estimate the radiation dose that patients received during the different radiological procedures. The questionnaire was designed to determine the participants' knowledge about radiation-related hazards. Results None of the radiation doses delivered by the imaging modalities was 100 % correctly estimated. A total of 41.4 % of all participants and 46.3 % of resident doctors underestimated the radiation doses. The frequency of answers underestimating doses was found to be significantly higher ( p