Surgical Resident Radiation Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices, and Exposures.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the level of ionizing radiation exposure among surgical residents and to evaluate resident knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding exposures.

DESIGN: An observational study was conducted using radiation exposure data for surgical residents who wore film badge dosimeters. A cross-sectional survey was electronically administered at the end of the year, examining resident knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning radiation exposures.

SETTING: Community teaching hospital in the Midwest.

PARTICIPANTS: Surgical residents who wore a badge for the full calendar year and completed study survey. Excluded were graduating chiefs and interns who only had 6 calendar months of data.

RESULTS: A total of 14 surgical residents (100%) were engaged in 168 rotations during study year. Primarily-general surgery (n = 103, 61%), night float (n = 16, 10%), trauma (n = 15, 9%), and vascular (n = 13, 8%). Radiation exposures were greater than a null value during most rotations (i.e., general surgery and night float), with no exposure above occupational thresholds. Certain rotations, namely vascular and trauma, had episodic high exposures. When asked if protective efforts changed during higher-risk rotations, responses revealed they increased (64%) or did not change (36%). A low Cronbach alpha (α = 0.2634) demonstrated that precaution use was not universal and had varied rationale. Percentage of correct radiation knowledge questions was 62%. A multilevel model predicting exposure had a significant multiplicative cross-level interaction term (p < 0.0001) between resident-level exposure and rotation type.

CONCLUSIONS: Radiation exposure levels for surgical residents have not been previously investigated. Data demonstrated that surgical residents were not at a greater risk than other medical personnel. However, the study demonstrated detectable radiation exposures that were statistically greater than a null value for the most common rotations. Stochastic and dose-response effects of radiation make any exposure a concern. Attempts to lessen exposures are worthwhile, with study results identifying a need for greater safety precaution education and adherence.