Knowledge of Radiation Hazards, Radiation Protection Practices and Clinical Profile of Health Workers in a Teaching Hospital in Northern Nigeria
Introduction: Use of ionizing radiation in medical imaging for diagnostic and interventional purposes has risen dramatically in recent years with a concomitant increase in exposure of patients and health workers to radiation hazards. Aim: To assess the knowledge of radiation hazards, radiation...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
JCDR Research and Publications Private Limited
2016-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jcdr.net/articles/PDF/8394/20398_CE[Ra1]_F(GH)_PF1(ROAK)_PFA(AK)_PF2(PVSU).pdf |
| Summary: | Introduction: Use of ionizing radiation in medical imaging for
diagnostic and interventional purposes has risen dramatically
in recent years with a concomitant increase in exposure of
patients and health workers to radiation hazards.
Aim: To assess the knowledge of radiation hazards, radiation
protection practices and clinical profile of health workers in
UDUTH, Sokoto, Nigeria.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was
conducted among 110 Radiology, Radiotherapy and Dentistry
staff selected by universal sampling technique. The study
comprised of administration of standardized semi-structured
pre-tested questionnaire (to obtain information on sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge of radiation hazards,
and radiation protection practices of participants), clinical
assessment (comprising of chest X-ray, abdominal ultrasound
and laboratory investigation on hematological parameters), and
evaluation of radiation exposure of participants (extracted from
existing hospital records on their radiation exposure status).
Results: The participants were aged 20 to 65 years (mean =
34.04 ± 8.83), most of them were males (67.3%) and married
(65.7%). Sixty five (59.1%) had good knowledge of radiation
hazards, 58 (52.7%) had good knowledge of Personal Protective
Devices (PPDs), less than a third, 30 (27.3%) consistently wore
dosimeter, and very few (10.9% and below) consistently wore the
various PPDs at work. The average annual radiation exposure
over a 4 year period ranged from 0.0475mSv to 1.8725mSv.
Only 1 (1.2%) of 86 participants had abnormal chest X-ray
findings, 8 (9.4%) of 85 participants had abnormal abdominal
ultrasound findings; while 17 (15.5%) and 11 (10.0%) of 110
participants had anemia and leucopenia respectively.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated poor radiation protection
practices despite good knowledge of radiation hazards among
the participants, but radiation exposure and prevalence of
abnormal clinical conditions were found to be low. Periodic
in-service training and monitoring on radiation safety was
suggested. |
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| ISSN: | 2249-782X 0973-709X |