Table 2 Frequencies and percentages of participants who answered correctly for each of the knowledge items
Knowledge item* | Frequency (%) |
|---|---|
1. Which of the following modalities do you think uses X-rays? | |
a. MRI (no) | 234 (81.5) |
b. Chest X-ray (yes) | 282 (98.3) |
c. Ultrasound (no) | 251 (87.5) |
d. CT (yes) | 198 (69.0) |
e. Conventional fluoroscopy (yes) | 194 (67.6) |
f. Mammography (yes) | 181 (63.1) |
g. Angiography (yes) | 155 (54.0) |
2. In a chest X-ray, the radiation dose is the same as natural background radiation received in how long? (less than 1 week) | 28 (9.8) |
3. For each of the following modalities, the radiation dose is approximately the same as how many chest x-rays? | |
a. Ultrasound of abdomen (zero) | 131 (45.6) |
b. CT of the abdomen (300–1000) | 63 (22.0) |
c. MRI of the abdomen (zero) | 114 (39.7) |
d. Abdominal X-ray (20–50) | 51 (17.8) |
e. Barium swallow (20–50) | 33 (11.5) |
f. MRI of the spine (zero) | 93 (32.4) |
4. Which of the following involves the highest radiation exposure for the patient? (plain film of the abdomen) | 82 (28.6) |
5. Which of the following groups is the most sensitive to radiation? (children) | 240 (83.6) |
6. Which organ is the least sensitive to radiation? (kidney) | 131 (45.6) |
7. Which of the following modalities is responsible for most of the radiation received by the general population? (CT) | 89 (31.0) |
8. For each of the following modalities, do you think it increases the lifetime risk of developing cancer? | |
a. MRI (definitely no) | 103 (35.9) |
b. Chest X-ray (definitely yes) | 64 (22.3) |
c. Ultrasound (definitely no) | 150 (52.3) |
d. CT (definitely yes) | 109 (38.0) |