Radiation exposure to family caregivers of patients administered radioisotopes for nuclear medicine procedures

Purpose: Radiation exposure to caregivers is increasing as the use of medical radiation increases. We identified the factors affecting the dose received by a family caregiver who cared for patients who underwent nuclear medicine procedures in order to suggest some considerations for families and nuclear medicine physicians in establishing radiation protection policies for caregivers.

Methods: This prospective study included 246 cases in two hospitals. The adult family caregivers (1) for patients who underwent F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG) PET/CT, Tc-99m hydroxymethylene diphosphonate (HDP) bone scans, I-123 scans or Tc-99m dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) scans for diagnosis, (2) for patients who received I-131 radioiodine treatment for therapy, and (3) who agreed to participate in research were included, and their radiation exposure from patients administered radioisotope was measured. Univariate and multivariate regression analyses were used to determine the factors affecting a caregiver’s radiation dose.

Results: The patient’s gender (P=0.014) and administration of a Tc-99m HDP bone scan (P=0.001) were the independent factors affecting the radiation dose to caregivers who cared for patients administered radioisotopes in the multivariate analysis.

Conclusions: A patient’s gender and the performance of Tc-99m HDP bone scans should be taken into consideration for establishing a radiation protection policy for caregivers who care for patients administered radioisotope.