| dc.description.abstract | The recent dramatic evolution and increased use of ionizing radiation-based diagnostic imaging modalities, such as multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT), has led to a multiplication of the number the radiological examinations with MDCT, currently accounting for about 50% of the total radiation burden for medical purposes (Lorenzo Faggioni, Fabio Paolicchi, Luca Bastiani,
2016).
This situation has raised concerns in the scientific community about the potential side effects on patients and staff/students. These effects could either be deterministic such as skin burns or stochastic such as radiation induced cancers among others. In Uganda, there has been an increase in the number of CT scans from only 1 in 1996 to over 24 now and still counting. (Personal communication with Mr. Bwangu John, Principal radiographer Mulago Hospital, November 2019). This comes along with increased exposure to patients and radiography staff plus the students involved in carrying out these diagnostic procedures. Therefore, knowledge of ionizing radiation exposure risks among radiography students and staff is important because this increased exposure to radiation should come in with increased awareness and implementation of radiation safety measures. This has necessitated the study participants to carry out “A Study on the Radiation Safety Awareness and Implementation Among Radiography Students and Staff at Mulago Hospital’s Radiology Department.” This is because hospitals have to take a key role in protecting those who are exposed to ionizing radiation (F. Paolicch, F. Miniati, L. Bastiani, L. Faggioni & A. Ciaramella, 2015).
The aim of our study was to evaluate the awareness of radiation protection measures and knowledge of dose levels, plus implementation of these measures while performing these procedures. It was a cross-sectional descriptive one in which study participants who were mainly 3rd year and 4th year students plus radiography staff at Mulago hospital were involved. For piloting the study, a sample questionnaire was prepared and given to some students and radiography staff to check for suitability. This study involved 60 participants who were randomly sampled to fill the questionnaires with both open and closed ended questions. A checklist was also used for more data collection by the investigators. The questionnaires were collected on the same day, coded and sorted manually. The data was then analyzed using excel software. It was presented using graphs, pie charts and tables. 90% of the participants completed and returned the questionnaires of which 77.8% believed the
MDCT contributes the highest percentage of ionizing radiation for medical uses, 14.8% believed in nuclear, while the remaining believed in general purpose X-rays. 66.7% of the participants answered the question on dose optimization correctly. 83.3% knew the basic principles of ionizing radiation. Over 90% of the participants didn’t have personal radiation monitoring devices. About 29% of the staff didn’t believe that it was necessary to share with patients the risks related to ionizing radiation for medical purposes despite sharing the benefits. Only 53.7% of the participants knew the correct average background radiation dose limit (1mSv). More than half of the participants didn’t know the annual dose limit for the public.
In conclusion, it was noted that students had sufficient knowledge of radiation protection as compared to radiography staff. The most flaws were concerning the radiation dose limits and thus require refresher courses for the staffs. | en_US |
