Study Finds Radiologists Do Not Have a Higher Risk of Radiation-Related Death

In a large-scale study, researchers compared the incidence of cancer, and mortality rates of radiologists and psychiatrists who graduated between 1916 and 2006 from medical school. The studies are intended to help evaluate the effectiveness of radiation protection steps, and the effects of long-term protracted exposure radiation at low levels.

The study was carried out by researchers at the Radiation Epidemiology Branch of the US National Cancer Institute (NCI; Rockville, MD, USA). The researchers used a large data set based on records from the US American Medical Association (AMA) physician master file database that included historical and current data for more than 1.4 million clinicians and medical students in the US.

The results of the study also showed that radiologists who graduated before 1940 did have an increased death rate from occupational radiation exposure. On the other hand recent radiology graduates experienced a lower health risk due to improved monitoring, radiation protection, and equipment safety.

Martha Linet, MD, senior investigator at the NCI Radiation Epidemiology Branch, and co-author of the study, said, "There's been a big change in practice over the past few decades, with more doctors performing fluoroscopically-guided procedures, making it more and more difficult to find a physician comparison group that did not have exposure to radiation. Our most important finding is that radiologists have lower death rates from all causes of death combined, compared to psychiatrists, and had similar risks of cancer deaths overall. Most of the findings of increased risk were in the earlier radiologists. We do feel there is evidence that decreases in dose in the United States and other countries seem to have paid off, reducing risks in recent graduates."

Related Links:
US National Cancer Institute