Assessment of Physicians' Knowledge and Awareness About the Hazards of Radiological Examinations on the Health of Their Patients at a Tertiary Care Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background One of the vital tools in diagnosing a variety of medical conditions is through radiological examinations which can lead to severe biological effects if precautions are not taken. To limit the harmful effects, as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) was implemented. ALARA aims to minimize the time, increase the distance, and promote the use of protective shielding. Method The cross-sectional study included 454 physicians in King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) and King Abdullah Specialist Children's Hospital (KASCH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study assessed physicians' knowledge and awareness about the hazards of radiological examinations on their patients' health using a self-administered questionnaire to measure knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP). KAP was compared with the sociodemographic characteristics using the Mann-Whitney Z-test as well as Kruskal Wallis H-test. Results Out of 454 physicians, males exceeded the females (61.7% vs 38.3%) with nearly three-quarters (72.5%) working in King Abdulaziz Medical City. The most commonly mentioned specialty was internal medicine, while the least common specialty was orthopedics. Based on a cutoff point of 60%, it was revealed that poor knowledge was observed in 70.5% of physicians. With regards to attitude, 65.2% of physicians had a positive attitude. For practices, 49.8% had poor practices while 50.2% had good practices. The mean scores for knowledge, attitude and practice were 9.19 (SD 7.03) out of 23 points, 1.89 (SD 1.06) out of 3 points, and 5.43 (SD 1.67) out of 8 points, respectively. Conclusion In conclusion, poor knowledge, practice, and positive attitude were detected among physicians. However, our study was limited by the use of a self-administered online questionnaire.