Educational and practice age, sex, type of hospital, and geographical region affect he KAP of interventional radiology staff regarding RP. Since many of the subjective radiation harms for both medical team and patients, this can be easily controlled and prevented; a checkup for personnel of interventional radiology departments, considering samples from different parts of the country with different levels of education, continuous training, and practical courses may help map the status of KAP. The results of this study may also help authorized health physics officers design strategic plans to enhance the quality of such services in radiation departments.

Background: Recently, X-rays radiation hazards rise with the exposure of patients and personnel. Exposure of people to radiation in the operating rooms is an important problem to study the safety of personnel and patients. To date, few studies are accomplished to evaluate knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) among personnel in hospitals. The current study aimed at evaluating KAP level of radiation hazards and protection amongst personnel in the operating room. Methods: A questionnaire-based, cross sectional study was conducted in 11 provinces of Iran from 2014 to 2015. Respondents in the current study were 332 personnel of operating room, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, and extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. Demographic characteristics, as well as knowledge, attitude, and practice levels of operating room personnel were collected. The selected hospitals were 3 types (educational, non-educational, and private clinics) located in 5 different regions of Iran (Tehran, Center, East, North, and West). Data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 and statistical analyses were accomplished with the one-way ANOVA. Results: The current study results showed no statistically significant difference in the KAP level of operating room personnel towards radiation protection for both genders (P = 0.1), time since graduation (P = 0.4), and work experience (P = 0.1). According to the analyses, the highest level of KAP concerning radiation protection was observed in the personnel of private clinics (mean score = 53.60) and the lowest value was observed in non-educational hospitals (mean score = 45.61). Besides, the KAP level was significantly higher in the Northern region (P < 0.0001) and the lowest was observed in the hospital personnel of the Central region (mean score = 34.27). Conclusions:The current study findings showed that the level of KAP regarding radiation protection among operating room personnel was inadequate and it is necessary to pay attention to the principles of radiation protection in the operating room. In this regard, holding courses on radiation protection and an elaborate educational program might be useful.

Introduction: Ionizing radiation in medical imaging is one of the dominant sources of exposure, and correct knowledge of radiation protection, affects staff safety behaviors during procedures. This study aimed to assess the radiation protection Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) amongst nuclear medicine centers' staff in Iran. Methods: To evaluate the level of radiation protection KAP, a validated questionnaire was distributed between 243 participants considering demographic characteristics in different geographical regions in Iran from 2014 to 2015. Results: There were statistically significant differences in the level of nuclear medicine staff KAP radiation protection with gender (p<0.05), practice age KAP level and radiation protection (p<0.05) among nuclear medicine staff with different working regions and healthcare market. There is no significant connection between educational age and KAP level of radiation protection of nuclear medicine department staff (p>0.05). Conclusion: Our findings have shown that radiation protection KAP level of nuclear medicine staff was inadequate in some regions. This might be due to the lack of continuous training and absence of adequate safety knowledge about ionizing radiation. It seems that awareness about radiation protection rules and regulations, along with continuous training and preparations has a direct effect on radiation practice leading to enhanced KAP of staff in nuclear medicine centers.