International Physician Survey on CT Scan Radiation Exposure and Tracking

A 2020 international survey collected 728 responses from referring physicians in 28 countries on radiation exposure knowledge and practices. The dataset captures physician opinions on patient dose tracking, self-assessment of referral appropriateness, and knowledge of radiation dose equivalencies. It was conducted via a web-based questionnaire by author Madan M. Rehani.

Use Cases

• Analyze the relationship between physician self-assessment of referral appropriateness and their reported frequency of enquiring about previous CT scan history.
• Model physician support for a patient exposure history tracking system based on their country's development status (developed vs. developing) and their knowledge of radiation dose equivalencies.
• Investigate correlations between physician comfort discussing radiation risk with patients and their opinion on providing dose information to patients.
• Segment respondents by country to compare knowledge levels about the chest x-ray equivalence of a CT scan across different geographic regions.

Strengths

• Survey includes 728 physician responses, providing a substantial sample size for analysis.
• Data has international scope with participants from 28 countries, including both developed and developing nations.
• Captures specific quantitative results, such as 71.7% of physicians valuing awareness of previous CT history and 34.7% correctly identifying dose equivalence.

Limitations

• Dataset is a single cross-sectional survey from 2020, limiting analysis of trends over time.
• Sample of 728 physicians may not be fully representative of all referring physicians globally, potentially introducing selection bias.
• Lacks granular respondent-level data (e.g., specific columns) as only aggregate results are described in the input.

Provenance

Source

Dryad

Collection Method

Prospective survey using a web-based questionnaire.

Time Range

Survey conducted circa 2020.

Freshness

2020-06-24

Geography

International, with physicians from 28 countries (52.3% developed, 47.7% developing).