Patients Underestimate Radiation Risk from CT Scans: Study

Only about 25% of patients understand the true risks of radiation when undergoing computed tomographic imaging (CT scans), according to the findings of a new study on the public’s perceptions of radiation risk and exposure. 

Three-quarters of all patients underestimate the amount of CT scan radiation their bodies receive, researchers from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey found. Only 3% know that the scans increase the lifetime risk of cancer, according to the new research, which was published online on December 10 in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

More than 1,100 patients were asked by researchers whether they knew that two to three abdominal CT scans give the same radiation exposure as that received by survivors of the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War II. Only about 13% agreed with the factual statement.

The researchers said patients in general have a poor understanding of CT scan radiation exposure and underestimate the possible effects of their previous CT scan experiences.

The study comes a little more than a month after the FDA recommended that the radiation therapy industry make changes to equipment and training to lessen the risk of radiation overdose for patients. The recommendations came after a year-long investigation by the FDA which concluded that nearly all radiation exposure problems suffered by patients are due to operator error and are rarely contributed to broken CT scanners.

CT scan procedures and other forms of radiation therapy across the country are under close scrutiny by the FDA after the discovery that a number of patients have suffered radiation overexposure from CT Scans performed incorrectly.

The recent FDA investigation was sparked by the discovery of CT scan radiation over-exposure problems that may have affected more than 200 patients at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles last year. In the course of the investigation, the FDA found that at least 385 patients had received excessive radiation while undergoing CT brain perfusion scans at a number of hospitals in California and Alabama.

The FDA released interim guidance for health care professionals and radiologists in December 2009. The guidance advised radiation therapy technicians to review procedures and CT scan settings, and to be thorough in checking the amount of dosage prescribed for each CT scan patient.