Radiographers' confidence in handling iodine based contrast media hypersensitivity reactions

Introduction: Adverse reactions to iodinated contrast media, which is used during computed tomography (CT) examinations, are rare. As a result, radiographers have limited experience handling those situations and may feel uncertainty and a lack of confidence. The aim of this study was to investigate radiographers' confidence in handling hypersensitivity reactions to contrast media during CT examinations.Methods: A survey in the form of a questionnaire was conducted to gather both quantitative and qual-itative data. There were 31 clinics that participated in this study, of which four were university hospitals, 17 were medium-sized hospitals and 10 were small hospitals. In total, the questionnaires were distrib-uted to 700 radiographers. The questionnaire contained 12 questions and was distributed via email with a link to the questionnaire.Results: Two hundred-ninety radiographers participated in the survey. 72% of the respondents answered in the middle of the four-point scale (2-3) in response to the statement "I feel confident in handling hypersensitivity reactions". 65% answered that they did not have routines for training regularly regarding hypersensitivity reactions. Qualitative data showed that many of the respondents wished to receive education and training regularly.Conclusions: The confidence of radiographers regarding the management of hypersensitivity reactions was deficient and most of the respondents wished they felt more confident.Implication for practice: To increase radiographers' confidence in handling hypersensitivity reactions, it is recommended that the radiology clinics review their routines and the possibility to implement regular training.(c) 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The College of Radiographers. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).