Radiologists And Visual Acuity Testing

Abstract

Visual acuity (VA) and potential risks to the radiologist’s eyesight have been relatively ne- glected subjects in the radiological literature. This study comprises two parts, the first consisting of a questionnaire on this subject sent to a random sample of 480 practising radiologists in the [1]United Kingdom, and the second, a spot check of the VA of radiologists in our department. Of questionnaires, 73 % were re- turned. Of respondents, 76 % felt that ionising radia- tion could affect their vision, but only 13 %   used lead glasses on a regular basis. A total of 71 % felt that regular monitoring of eyesight should be re- quired. Of  25 tested radiologists, 5 had suboptimal VA and could benefit from further correction. The pertinent literature is reviewed, and a case for peri- odic eyesight testing is presented, including VA and grey-scale discrimination.