IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i10p6260-d820636.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Awareness of Medical Doctors in Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia on Diagnostic Radiological Examination Related Radiation Exposure in the Pediatric Population

Author

Listed:
  • Chee Guan Ng

    (Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
    Hospital Wanita Dan Kanak-Kanak Kuala Lumpur, Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur 50586, Malaysia)

  • Hanani Abdul Manan

    (Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
    Functional Image Processing Laboratory, Department of Radiology, University Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
    Department of Radiology and Intervency, Hospital Pakar Kanak-Kanak (Specialist Children Hospital), University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia)

  • Faizah Mohd Zaki

    (Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia
    Department of Radiology and Intervency, Hospital Pakar Kanak-Kanak (Specialist Children Hospital), University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia)

  • Rozman Zakaria

    (Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur 56000, Malaysia)

Abstract

Background: When exposed to equal radiation doses, the risks for children and adolescents are more significant than for adults. Children grow quickly, and their cells are more sensitive to radiation. After radiation exposure, children have a higher risk of developing malignancies such as leukemia, thyroid abnormalities, and various types of cancers. The healthcare professionals’ (in this context referring to medical doctors at all levels) awareness of imaging modalities associated with ionizing radiation is essential to ensure optimal patient management of cooperation in dealing with radiation exposure. Therefore, the present study is aimed to evaluate the awareness of healthcare professionals on medical imaging-related radiation exposure in the pediatric population in our center, Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among healthcare professionals using self-administered validated questionnaires in a university hospital for a duration of seven months. Healthcare professionals of all levels participated in this survey. Results: A total of 145 healthcare professionals participated in this study. More than half of the respondents are house officers, 57.2% ( n = 83). Results indicated that only 6 out of 145 healthcare professionals who participated in this survey had attended a radiation protection course. This survey showed that 37.2% of the respondents were unaware that chest radiographs would expose patients to ionizing radiation. Finally, results also indicated that senior doctors (21 out of 24 participants) showed better awareness of radiation protection knowledge. Conclusions: In general, healthcare professionals in our institution are inadequate in awareness of medical radiation exposure, particularly among house officers. However, the awareness of radiation safety and exposure improves with the number of years of clinical practice. We propose that some younger healthcare professionals do not take radiation safety seriously. Moreover, we would like to suggest all healthcare professionals must attend a radiation safety course, as we expect this will improve patient outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Chee Guan Ng & Hanani Abdul Manan & Faizah Mohd Zaki & Rozman Zakaria, 2022. "Awareness of Medical Doctors in Pusat Perubatan Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia on Diagnostic Radiological Examination Related Radiation Exposure in the Pediatric Population," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-10, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6260-:d:820636
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6260/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/6260/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kristy R. Kutanzi & Annie Lumen & Igor Koturbash & Isabelle R. Miousse, 2016. "Pediatric Exposures to Ionizing Radiation: Carcinogenic Considerations," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-14, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sandy Shergill & Lindsay Forsman-Phillips & Anne-Marie Nicol, 2021. "Radon in Schools: A Review of Radon Testing Efforts in Canadian Schools," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(10), pages 1-9, May.
    2. Alesia Ferguson & Rosalind Penney & Helena Solo-Gabriele, 2017. "A Review of the Field on Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: A Risk Assessment Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-25, March.
    3. Alesia Ferguson & Helena Solo-Gabriele, 2016. "Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants: An Editorial Reflection of Articles in the IJERPH Special Issue Entitled, “Children’s Exposure to Environmental Contaminants”," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-10, November.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:10:p:6260-:d:820636. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.