Awareness of Non-Radiological Background Saudi Physicians Regarding Risk of CT-Scan’s Radiation on Children

Background: Children are radiosensitive compared to the adult patient. Despite this, the level of concern about and well-informed interest concerning exposure to ionizing radiation on children is not known among physicians.Aim of Study: To assess knowledge and practice among referring physicians on risks associated with radiation exposure during pediatric computed tomography imaging was assessed.Methods: The study questionnaire was distributed to 105 Saudi physicians who were randomly selected from Aseer Central Hospital, Aseer Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Radiologists were excluded.Results: Less than half of physicians (48.6%) were aware that their hospital’s policy indicates to openly discuss with the pediatric patient’s parents about the possible risk on children due to exposure to CT radiation, 34.3% were familiar with the principle of the “as low as reasonably achievable” and 11.4% discuss radiation doses with parents of sick children. Physicians’ awareness regarding differential risk of exposure to radiation according to child’s body parts differed significantly according to their specialty (p 0.01). Most physicians depend on self-directed learning to build up their education and training related to CT scans.Conclusions: Physicians’ awareness about hazards of radiation exposure from CT scans among children are both inadequate and insufficient, which would mandate necessary immediate proper training measures.