Awareness of medical staff towards radiation protection and dose for radiological procedures in Taif, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Aim: This study was carried out to evaluate basic knowledge on radiation protection and dose for radiological procedures among medical staff in Taif City.

Method: Questionnaires were administered among the 220 participants of this study to include nurses, technologist, medical students, residents, registrar and consultant within Taif City.

Results: among the 220 participants, 57.73% (127) were females while 42.27% (93) were males. Medical students comprised more than half of the total respondents, followed by nurses 16.8% and resident 11.4. 47.3% claimed they have average knowledge, 26.8% said they have good knowledge and 15.9% and 1.4% admitted they have poor and no knowledge respectively. Only 8.6% were sure that they have excellent knowledge on radiation. Meanwhile, 46.3%said they received lecture or tutorials in radiology, and 18.2% were not certain if they received such. It is remarkable to note that 46.4% of the respondents did not received education in radiation protection and 21.4% could not account if they had this information.

In general, knowledge of the participants on radiation is low considering they are in the medical profession. Scores were not consistent in each group of participants as they display either high or low scores in the different items, however, higher scores were obtained by medical students, residents, and consultants . Lowest score obtained by the participants was on more than one week in the natural background equal to one chest x-ray where only 11.4% got the correct answer. Highest score was obtained on children as the most sensitive to radiation where nearly 66.8% of the participants got the answer right.

Conclusion: It is concluded that knowledge on radiation hazard, dose, and protection of the participants is not adequate. Integrating the basics of radiation in the medical curriculum and supporting it with exposure, experience, and training would certainly improve level of knowledge of the participants.