Lack of radiological awareness among physicians working in a tertiary-care cardiological centre

Background Medical irradiation is the most important artificial source of exposure to ionising radiations in Europe and implies biorisks. Aim To assess the level of radiological awareness in a tertiary-care referral centre of adult–pediatric cardiological excellence. Methods One hundred physicians (31 women, age=41±8 years) were polled with a simple, one-page, multiple choice questionnaire. Twenty-five physicians worked in a pediatric, 75 in an adult cardiology centre. Results Eighty-nine of the polled physicians wrongly estimated the contribution of nuclear and radiological tests in overall radiation exposure of average US inhabitant as <0.01% (36% of physicians) or <1% (31%) or <10% (22%) (correct answer given by 11% of physicians: >10%). Ninety-five physicians wrongly estimated the risk of fatal cancer associated with a stress myocardial perfusion scintigraphy procedure as “zero” (48%) or “<1 in 10 million”(19%) or “<1 in 1 million” (28%) (correct answer given by 5%: >1 in 10,000 tests). Seventy-one wrongly estimated the dose exposure of a myocardial stress perfusion scintigraphy as equal to one (13%), or one-half (9%), or three times (49%) that of a chest X-ray (correct answer given by 29%: 500 times). The average level of radiological awareness was not correlated to the number of radiological–nuclear exams performed/prescribed per year and to the type of (adult or pediatric) working environment. Conclusion Physicians working in an adult and pediatric cardiological environment of excellence are largely unaware of environmental impact, biorisks and dose exposure of the ionising exams they prescribe and/or perform daily.