Awareness of Radiation Hazards and Knowledge About Radiation Protection Among Medical Students at the Northern Border University, Arar

There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

Abstract

Studies have shown that medical students and doctors are not well equipped with knowledge of radiation hazards and their protection. This lack of knowledge may cause harm to patients and healthcare professionals.

Objectives

To compare the awareness of radiation hazards and knowledge about radiation protection among medical students at Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia, with and without prior teaching.

Methods and materials

This cross-sectional study was carried out among medical students from clinical years at Northern Border University, Arar, Saudi Arabia, from May 1st, 2023, to June 30th, 2023. Their consents were taken. Then they were randomly sorted into two groups. One group was given a radiation safety short course, and then they answered a questionnaire. The other group filled out the questionnaire without prior instruction, and analysis was done. The outcome of this study was quantified based on the score calculated after participants filled out the questionnaire.

Results

The mean score of students who didn’t attend the radiology course was 3.38±1.8, while the score of students who attended the radiology course was 7.87±1.4 (p<0.001). Radiology course attendance showed a significant association with knowledge and awareness scores.

Conclusions

The average knowledge of medical students regarding radiation protection and hazards is quite poor. This lack of understanding could potentially lead to increased risks for both patients and healthcare professionals. The knowledge about radiation hazards and protection is increased in students who attended a short radiology course. We recommend implementing comprehensive educational programs that focus on radiation hazards and protection for medical students.

Related collections

Most cited references 21

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

Awareness of radiation protection and dose levels of imaging procedures among medical students, radiography students, and radiology residents at an academic hospital: Results of a comprehensive survey.

Fabio Paolicchi, Lorenzo Faggioni, Luca Bastiani … (2017)

To evaluate the awareness of radiation protection issues and the knowledge of dose levels of imaging procedures among medical students, radiology residents, and radiography students at an academic hospital.

0 comments Cited 27 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: found

Is Open Access

Three principles for radiation safety: time, distance, and shielding

Jae Hun Kim (2018)

Pain physicians usually use C-arm fluoroscopy for the treatment of patients. The C-arm fluoroscope is an important device for pain interventions. However, pain physicians can be exposed to radiation during use of C-arm fluoroscopy. According to a previous study in Korea, most pain physicians were worried about the adverse biological effects of radiation exposure [1]. However not many pain physicians had knowledge of radiation safety [1 2]. Furthermore, not many pain physicians used radiation protective devices and radiation protective methods [1 2]. Even though almost all pain physicians had used thyroid protectors and aprons, the use of lead glasses and gloves was low. For reducing radiation exposure, there are 3 principals: time, distance, and shielding. 1. Time Radiation exposure can be accumulated over the time of exposure. In C-arm fluoroscopy guided interventions, the time spent checking the C-arm fluoroscopy is related to the radiation exposure. The longer the exposure time, the more radiation exposure to the pain physician. Therefore, it is important to reduce the usage time of C-arm fluoroscopy [2 3]. For reducing the usage time, the physician has to improve his skill in intervention and the radiographer has to check the X-ray at the correct location, and at the right moment without blurred image. 2. Distance A greater distance from the radiation source can reduce radiation exposure. The amount of radiation exposure is not inversely proportional to the distance from the radiation source, but is inversely proportional to the square of the distance [2 4]. This means that double the distance from the radiation source can reduce the radiation exposure not to 1/2 but to 1/4. Therefore, maintaining a greater distance from the X-ray generator is a very effective method for radiation safety. In a previous study of radiographers, two steps behind the mobile support structure can decrease the exposure of the radiographer by about 80% [4]. In another study, being only 20 cm farther from the center of the X-ray field can decrease the radiation exposure by about 73% [5]. 3. Shielding There are many shielding devices such as caps, lead glasses, thyroid protectors, aprons, radiation reducing gloves, and so on, for radiation safety during C-arm fluoroscopy-guided interventions. Even though the protective effect is enough for radiation safety, no use of the devices cannot protect the physician from radiation. In Korea, the use rate of the apron and thyroid protector by pain physicians is over 80% [1 2 6]. However, the use rate of lead glasses was about 40%, and the use rate of radiation reducing gloves was lower than 35% [1]. The radiation shielding devices are expensive, and the use of shielding devices can be uncomfortable. However, when a physician uses these devices, they can be protected from radiation exposure. Reducing the time of radiation exposure, a greater distance from radiation sources, and the use of shielding devices for radiation protection are important. Even if pain physicians have to use these three principles, I want to emphasize the importance of distance from the radiation source, because the longer distance from the radiation source may be more effective than reducing time or the use of shielding devices. If a pain physician decreases the time of radiation exposure in half, his radiation exposure will be halved. If a pain physician uses radiation protective devices with double the lead equivalent thickness, his radiation exposure will also be halved. However, if a pain physician stands double the distance from a radiation source, his radiation exposure will reduce to 1/4. Physicians do not pay money for a longer distance from the radiation source. Therefore, all physicians can use the principle of greater distance easily. Do you want to reduce your radiation exposure? Please remember the 3 principles; time, distance, and shielding.

0 comments Cited 24 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

Record: found
Abstract: found
Article: not found

The Risk of Cancer from CT Scans and Other Sources of Low-Dose Radiation: A Critical Appraisal of Methodologic Quality.

Carl H Schultz, Romeo Fairley, Linda Suk-Ling Murphy … (2020)

Concern exists that radiation exposure from computerized tomography (CT) will cause thousands of malignancies. Other experts share the same perspective regarding the risk from additional sources of low-dose ionizing radiation, such as the releases from Three Mile Island (1979; Pennsylvania USA) and Fukushima (2011; Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan) nuclear power plant disasters. If this premise is false, the fear of cancer leading patients and physicians to avoid CT scans and disaster responders to initiate forced evacuations is unfounded.

0 comments Cited 24 times – based on 0 reviews      Review now

Bookmark

All references

Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): Cureus

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Cureus

Journal ID (issn): 2168-8184

Title: Cureus

Publisher: Cureus (Palo Alto (CA) )

ISSN (Electronic): 2168-8184

Publication date (Electronic, pub): 4 March 2024

Publication date (Electronic, collection): March 2024

Volume: 16

Issue: 3

Electronic Location Identifier: e55484

Affiliations

[1 ] Department of Surgery, Northern Border University, Arar, SAU

Author notes

Pakeeza Shafiq dr.pakeezashafiq@ 123456gmail.com

Article

DOI: 10.7759/cureus.55484

PMC ID: 10989399

PubMed ID: 38571854

SO-VID: b83deef8-c56b-442a-b94c-71c12387d396

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

History

Date accepted : 4 March 2024

Awareness of Radiation Hazards and Knowledge About Radiation Protection Among Medical Students at the Northern Border University, Arar

Read this article at

Abstract

Related collections

Chinese Journal of Radiological Health

Most cited references 21

Awareness of radiation protection and dose levels of imaging procedures among medical students, radiography students, and radiology residents at an academic hospital: Results of a comprehensive survey.

Three principles for radiation safety: time, distance, and shielding

The Risk of Cancer from CT Scans and Other Sources of Low-Dose Radiation: A Critical Appraisal of Methodologic Quality.

Author and article information

Journal

Affiliations

Author notes

Article

History

Categories

Comments

Comment on this article

Similar content 46

Most referenced authors 96