Medical Interns’ and Residents’ Awareness of Radiation Protection in Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging

Background: The exposure of patients and radiation workers to ionizing radiation is evaluated in most cases on the basis of risk versus benefit. Any unnecessary exposure of the entire community is an unacceptable risk. Objectives: The purpose of this paper was to assess medical interns and residents’ awareness of radiation protection in pediatric diagnostic imaging. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 270 medical interns and residents. Data collection was done using a questionnaire prepared according to a literature review, with confirmed validity and reliability. After collecting and scoring the questionnaires, the data were extracted and analyzed by descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The participants’ awareness of pediatric diagnostic imaging was 75.55% and awareness of the principles of biological effects of radiation was 62%. There was a significant difference between the awareness of residents (59.16%) and that of interns (52.22%) (P = 0.01). The results for the two groups also showed that there was a significant difference between the level of knowledge about the dose received during imaging in both male and female groups (P = 0.04). Conclusions: Based on the results, in order to reduce children’s exposure to radiation, it is recommended to enhance the awareness and knowledge of general and specialized medical students at universities and hospitals through retraining courses.