Occupational Radiation Exposure and Validity of National Dosimetry Registry among Korean Interventional Radiologists

The national dose registry (NDR) contains essential information to help protect radiation workers from radiation-related health risks and to facilitate epidemiological studies. However, direct validation of the reported doses has not been considered. We investigated the validity of the NDR with a personal dosimeter monitoring conducted among Korean interventional radiologists. Among the 56 interventional radiologists, NDR quarterly doses were compared with actively monitored personal thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) doses as standard measures of validation. We conducted analyses with participants categorized according to compliance with TLD badge-wearing policies. A correlation between actively monitored doses and NDR doses was low (Spearman ρ = 0.06), and the mean actively monitored dose was significantly higher than the mean NDR dose (mean difference 0.98 mSv) in all participants. However, interventional radiologists who wore badges irregularly showed a large difference between actively monitored doses and NDR doses (mean difference 2.39 mSv), and participants who wore badges regularly showed no apparent difference between actively monitored doses and NDR doses (mean difference 0.26 mSv). This study indicated that NDR data underestimate the actual occupational radiation exposure, and the validity of these data varies according to compliance with badge-wearing policies. Considerable attention is required to interpret and utilize NDR data based on radiation workers’ compliance with badge-wearing policies.