Department of Paediatric Radiology, Institute for Maternal and Child Health - IRCCS "Burlo Garofolo", Trieste, Italy.
Université de Paris, Paris, France.
Eur Radiol. 2021 Oct;31(10):7984-7991. doi: 10.1007/s00330-021-07906-w. Epub 2021 Apr 15.
Justification of medical exposures from medical imaging is fundamental to radiation protection. Referral guidelines are intended to help physicians decide when an imaging study is justified. For two decades, referral guidelines have been a legally binding requirement for European Union member states. Recently, the European Society of Radiology (ESR) developed iGuide tool, which provides evidence-based referral guidance for imaging inclusive of children. The aim of this survey was to assess the availability, use and familiarity of referral guidelines for medical imaging in children and knowledge about the availability of ESR iGuide among ESR member radiologists.
Over a 2-month period (15 September-15 November 2019), 33,257 ESR member radiologists were invited to respond to an anonymised web-based questionnaire, which consisted of 12 multiple-choice questions.
In total, 2067/33,257 responses (6.3%) were received from 52 countries. A total of 1068 out of 2067 (51.7%) respondents were aware that imaging referral guidelines are a legal requirement. One thousand five (48.6%) of all respondents did not know whether dedicated guidelines for imaging in children were available, and only 653 (31.2%) were aware of the mainstays of the available guidelines. Similarly, just 746 (36.1%) of all respondents were aware of ESR iGuide availability and features.
The information gathered confirms that effective and widespread adoption of imaging referral guidelines is lacking, especially in children. Further work is required to improve uptake and awareness.
• Justification of medical exposures is fundamental to radiation protection and evidence-based referral guidelines are crucial for practical implementation of this principle. • About half of survey respondents are aware that the availability of imaging referral guidelines is a legal requirement, despite this being mandated since 1997. • The information gathered from this survey confirms that, especially in children, an effective and widespread adoption of imaging referral guidelines is lacking.
医学影像学的正当性理由是放射防护的基础。转诊指南旨在帮助医生决定何时进行影像学检查是合理的。二十年来，转诊指南一直是欧盟成员国的法律要求。最近，欧洲放射学会（ESR）开发了 iGuide 工具，为包括儿童在内的影像学提供循证转诊指导。这项调查的目的是评估儿童医学影像学转诊指南的可用性、使用情况和熟悉程度，以及 ESR 成员放射科医生对 ESR iGuide 可用性的了解。
在两个月的时间内（2019 年 9 月 15 日至 11 月 15 日），邀请 33257 名 ESR 成员放射科医生回复匿名在线问卷，问卷包含 12 个多项选择题。
共收到来自 52 个国家的 2067/33257 份（6.3%）回复。在 2067 名受访者中，共有 1068 名（51.7%）知道影像学转诊指南是法律要求。所有受访者中有 1500 名（48.6%）不知道是否有专门针对儿童影像学的指南，只有 653 名（31.2%）了解现有指南的要点。同样，只有 746 名（36.1%）的受访者知道 ESR iGuide 的可用性和特点。
收集到的信息证实，有效的和广泛采用的影像学转诊指南是缺乏的，特别是在儿童中。需要进一步努力提高使用率和认知度。
医学照射正当性是放射防护的基础，基于证据的转诊指南对于实施这一原则至关重要。
约一半的调查受访者意识到提供影像学转诊指南是一项法律要求，尽管自 1997 年以来就有此要求。
从这项调查中收集到的信息证实，特别是在儿童中，有效的和广泛采用的影像学转诊指南是缺乏的。
