Cancer and Other Disease Risks in U.S. Nuclear Medicine Technologists
Condition: Brain Cancer; Thyroid Cancer; Circulatory Disease; Breast Cancer
MeSH terms: Brain Neoplasms; Disease
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Background:

      The field of nuclear medicine has changed a lot in the past decades. Technology has gotten
      better, so patients are exposed to less radiation. But now workers are doing procedures more
      often and using lead aprons less. So they may be exposed to more radiation. This may put them
      at higher risk for cancers and other health problems that are related to radiation.
      Researchers want to collect data from technologists to learn more about the risks and
      appropriate doses of radiation.

      Objective:

      To learn more about the risks and appropriate doses of radiation for nuclear medicine
      technologists.

      Eligibility:

      Adults who were first certified in nuclear medicine technology in the United States after
      1980. They must be living in the United States. They must not be participants in the USRT
      study.

      Design:

      Participants will be recruited online.

      Participants will complete an online survey. It will take about a half hour. This will have
      questions about their work with nuclear medicine procedures. There will be questions about
      the kinds of procedures and how often they do them.

      Participants will give a short work history. This will include the names of current and past
      employers.

      Participants will allow researchers to get records of their film badge dose readings. These
      will come from dosimetry providers.

      Dosimetry data will not be shared with participants. Researchers can t ensure the how
      accurate or complete the data are.
    

Detailed description: 
      The field of nuclear medicine has expanded rapidly since its inception in the mid-20th
      century, with nuclear medicine technologists now potentially experiencing higher levels of
      radiation exposure relative to other medical worker populations. Many radiopharmaceuticals
      and procedures used in previous decades are now obsolete and are being replaced by new and
      emerging radioisotopes and combined-modality and molecular imaging procedures. While
      improvements in imaging technologies and the introduction of certain radioisotopes have
      generally reduced patient exposure to radiation, nuclear medicine technologists have become
      increasingly specialized in these newer procedures and are performing these and other nuclear
      medicine procedures with increasing frequency. Furthermore, lead aprons are less effective in
      protecting workers during nuclear medicine procedures, specifically higher-energy procedures
      (e.g., positron emission tomography (PET)), compared to other radiation-related procedures,
      and are seldom used by technologists performing nuclear medicine. As a result, cumulative
      doses to nuclear medicine technologists are expected to have increased. We hypothesize that
      certified nuclear medicine technologists may experience higher risks of some
      radiation-related cancers and other adverse health outcomes compared to most other medical
      specialty groups. There is currently very little information about radiation-related risks
      associated with performing these procedures due, in part, to limited information on
      occupational doses associated with current nuclear medicine practices. To characterize
      organ-specific doses that could later be used to quantify risks for specific
      radiation-related disease outcomes, either directly (through subsequent follow-up) or
      indirectly (through risk projection methods), we plan to collect detailed work history
      information on nuclear medicine procedures and associated radiation safety practices, as well
      as badge doses, for a representative sample of 1,500 technologists certified in nuclear
      medicine in the U.S. This information will complement similar data collected in 2013-2014
      from an independent sample of approximately 4,500 general radiologic technologists in the
      U.S. Radiologic Technologists Study (USRT) who had reported working with these procedures.
      However, unlike the USRT sample, the proposed sample is expected to be higher-risk, including
      only those workers with a specialty certification in nuclear medicine who will have been
      begun working with nuclear medicine procedures much earlier in their career, at ages
      associated with greater susceptibility to radiation-related carcinogenesis.
    

Observational model: Cohort
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Probability Sample
Study population: 
        This is an occupational cohort of 35,593 U.S. nuclear medicine technologists certified by
        the American Registry of Radiologic Technologist or the Nuclear Medicine Technology
        Certification Board in 1980 or later.
      
Keywords: Cohort Study; Radiation; Occupation