The Level of Knowledge About Radiation Safety and the Frequency of the Use of Protective Equipment Among Healthcare workers Exposed to Radiation in Different Units

Abstract

We aimed to investigate the level of knowledge about radiation safety, the frequency of the use of protective equipment, and the reasons for not using it among healthcare workers. METHODS The data were collected by administering a standard cross-sectional survey via the internet to 443 healthcare workers exposed to radiation. The chi-square test was used to compare groups. RESULTS The median age of participants was 30 years, and 52.8% were females. Participants comprised radiology (61.4%), radiation oncology (21.4%), cardiology (7.2%), fluoroscopy use (5.9%), and nuclear medicine (4.1%) workers. In total, 90.1% of the workers had dosimeters. Of those who used fluoroscopy, only 11.5% had dosimeters. A total of 20.3% of the workers stated that dosimetry is reliable, and 89.7% of the workers in the cardiology and fluoroscopy use groups knew that they had to wear lead aprons (p<0.05). The rate of thyroid protector use was 100% in the cardiology group, whereas 23.1% of the fluoroscopy use group did not use a thyroid protector and 7.7% were not aware of its presence (p<0.05). Additionally, the protective goggles use in all groups was 6.3%. Of the workers, 20.8% believed in the protection of protective equipment. The most common reason for not using protective equipment was the restraint of mobility capability. CONCLUSION Exposure to radiation is an important issue in terms of work health and occupational diseases. For this reason, workers' knowledge about radiation safety and protective equipment should be increased, and the hospital administration should inspect the implementation of protective measures regularly.

Multicentric Study on the Relation between Perceived Department Radiation Shielding Policies and Staff Radiation Shielding Conscientiousness

“…Personal protective equipment (PPE) consists of personal radiation protective equipment; e.g., lead-equivalent aprons and thyroid shields and in-room radiation protective devices, such as ceiling and table mounted lead screens. Although the importance of radiation protection is unquestioned, recent studies highlight a lack or variability in knowledge and awareness about the use and risks of ionizing radiation and radiation safety in departments performing FGP (Rehani 2007; Kim et al 2010; Bordoli et al 2014; Silkoset et al 2015; Kaplan et al 2016; Kurtul and Kurtul 2018; Harris et al 2019; Modarai et al 2023). These findings might be due to substantial differences in the prevailing radiation shielding policies between departments.…”

“…Furthermore, a high variability in knowledge among staff was noticed within the same departments (Kim et al 2010; Bordoli et al 2014; Kurtul and Kurtul 2018; Modarai et al 2023). Unsurprisingly, this variability is inherent to different scientific backgrounds of staff regarding ionizing radiation.…”