Evaluation of Knowledge of Patients Undergoing CT Examination Regarding Radiation Risks and their Involvement in Decision Making
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32413/pjph.v11i1.657Keywords:
Computed tomography, Radiation dose, Awareness, Radiation risks, Ionizing radiationAbstract
Background: The objective of the present study is to assess knowledge of patients undergoing CT examination regarding radiation risks associated with it and to evaluate the relationships between patient’s knowledge of these concepts and their sociodemographic characteristics. Moreover, this study also evaluates patients’ perspectives and their involvement in the medical decision-making process regarding obtaining a CT examination.
Methods: This is a cross sectional study that was conducted in department of Radiology of a tertiary health care hospital. A sample of 500 patients presenting to Radiology department for CT examination was taken. A closed ended questionnaire was distributed to the study participants comprising of knowledge questions and physician’s role in knowledge dissemination of radiation risks and patient’s involvement in decision making. Statistical analysis was performed by using IBM SPSS software version 23. Chi square and fisher exact test were applied to find the correlation between the radiation awareness scores and patient’s gender, age, educational level and monthly income and p values were calculated.
Results: The mean age of the study participants was 41.35 years with 59.7% male and 50.3% female. The knowledge scores were high in males, patients <25 years of age, those with post graduate qualification and high monthly income with p values of <0.0001. 64% study participants were never told about the ionizing radiations. Only 45% participants said that they were involved in decision making of undergoing a CT examination.91% study participants said that the doctor should be more concerned about diagnosing the medical problem rather than worrying about radiation risks while 98% participants believed that if the doctor advices CT examination, then it outweighs its radiation risks.
Conclusion: It is concluded that patients have poor knowledge of radiation risks involved in CT examination with less involvement in decision making, relying only on their referring physicians.
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