Knowledge, attitude and practice of nuclear medicine staff towards radiation protection

Abstract

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.

Radiation protection among health care workers: knowledge, attitude, practice, and clinical recommendations: a systematic review

“…The most important method of proper radiation protection principle implementation is education [10]. Today, with the increase in the number of radiology procedures, all healthcare workers exposed to radiology waves should know how these procedures are performed and how they can better protect themselves [11,12]. The extent of awareness of the healthcare workforce about radiation protection has a considerable impact on the proper attitude and performance regarding protection against radiology waves [13].…”

Assessment of Health Professionals’ Attitudes on Radiation Protection Measures

“…Concerning the effect of previous experience on misconceptions, in their study, Seifi et al, after dividing employees into two categories, one with work experience of up to 15 years and the other with more than 15 years of experience, found that employees with up to 15 years of experience had less knowledge of the undesirable effects of radiation and this probably led to misconceptions [52]. This finding is consistent with earlier research by Mohiri et al, according to which employees with less work experience had correspondingly less knowledge of the undesirable effects of radiation [53].…”

“…More specifically, obtaining a higher education degree creates a feeling of self-confidence, personal development, self-realization, and success at work. Combining these factors, the staff acquires better professional satisfaction, an essential ingredient for providing quality health services [52].…”