Concerning the patients’ group:
The group was made by 41% men and 59% women with an age ranging from 10 to 66 years.Level of study was variable with a majority of patients that have attended university (58%).
In this group a majority of patients (91%) find important to know about X-ray effects and more than 60% felt worried about that.
60.7% of patients have never seen or heard news about radiation in medical imaging and its’ effect.
About 80% of patients declared making difference between plain X-Ray,
ultrasonography (US),
computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging(MRI).
While when they were asked which examination uses X-ray ,35% were mistaken and considered that MRI and US uses X-ray.
More than half of the group (56%) considered X-ray exams as harmful for health.
This may be correlated in patients’ mind to the increasing cancer risk after CT scan.
About 20% of patients wrongly believe that radiation dose received during a chest CT scan is inferior to the received dose on a chest X-ray and 37% incorrectly think that it is 10 times the received dose on a chest X-ray while only 15% truly believe that it is 200 times.
Hopefully,
when asked if we should minimize radiating exams in children comparing to adult,
a majority of patients (78.7%) responded yes but about 64% were unable to say if there were special organs to protect.
91% of our panel declared that a woman should tell radiologist about pregnancy and the majority think that a plain X-ray plain is totally forbidden in pregnant women.
More than 70% of patients declared not having been warned about X-ray exposure by their doctor.
When asked If they had an illness to diagnose,
56.6% of patients chose a more definite and more radiating test instead a less definite and less radiating test.
Concerning the paramedics’ group:
The majority (93.5%) of paramedics find it is important to know about radiation effect and felt worried about it.
80% of paramedics declared making the difference between plain X-Ray,
US,
CT scan and MRI and when asked which examination uses X-ray,
about 30 % were mistaken.
As we have noticed in patients group,
more than 80% of paramedics think that radiating exams are harmful for health.
It also can be explained by the association made in their mind of increased risk of cancer.
With no surprise ,90% of paramedics think that we should minimize radiating exams in children comparing to adult and about 52% of them justify this information by the fact that there are organs to protect.
About 13% of paramedics wrongly believe that the radiation dose received during a chest CT scan is inferior to the received dose on a chest x-ray and 63.5% incorrectly think that it is 10 or 5 times the received dose on a chest X-ray while only 13% truly believe that it is 200 times.
96% declared that a woman should tell radiologist about pregnancy and about 65% of them think that a plain X-ray is forbidden in pregnant women.
It is reassuring to notice that about 67% of paramedics would not undergo a CT scan if it is offered for them for free and it is not indicated for their situation.
When asked If they had an illness to diagnose,
64.5% of paramedics chose a more definite and more radiating test instead a less definite and less radiating test.
Considering the medical group:
A large majority (96.5%) think that it is important to know about radiation effects and risks.
However,
worries about radiation are more mixed.98% declare make difference between different modality in imaging and effectively they are mistaken less than 4%.
When asked if cancer risk increased with number of CT,
54.7% answered yes and 87.6% distinguished clearly that it is related to number of CT.
About 60% wrongly believe that received dose on a chest CT is 5 or 10 times the received dose on a chest X-ray while only 13% correctly believe that it is 200 times.
94% of these group agreed that we should minimize radiating exams in children comparing to adult.
However,
only 28% of them justify it by the fact that there are organs to protect (23% external genitalia ,12% thyroid) and 72% were unable to say if there are precautions to take especially.
Concerning pregnant women,
almost all the group agreed that a women should tell radiologist about pregnancy and about performing plain X-ray in pregnancy,
answers were mostly divided between possible and forbidden.
Unfortunately,
the majority (64%) of medical group declared not warning patient about X-ray exposure when prescribing a CT.
The majority (64%) of this group would not undergo a CT if it was offered to them for free and not indicated for their condition but 73% would not hesitate to choose a more definite and more radiating test to diagnose an illness eventually.