Analysis of the factors of occupational lens injury on nuclear medicine personnel

Abstract

Objective To analyze the factors of occupational lens injury in radiological workers in hospitals. Methods A total of 1022 eyes of 511 radiological workers in tertiary referral hospitals who participated in the annual occupational eye examination were enrolled in this study. Four groups were set according to the job categories, which were nuclear medicine group, X-ray imaging group, radiation therapy group and interventional radiology group, respectively. The nuclear medicine group was the research group and the other three groups were the control groups. The amounts of lens radiation injury of each group were calculated. All data were statistically analyzed by chi-square test. The differences between nuclear medicine group and the other three groups were studied. Results The lens radiation injuries were found in each group, and the statistically significant differences were found between nuclear medicine group and other three groups(P=0.025, 0.005 and 0.003, respectively). Conclusion The nuclear medicine personnel are susceptible to occupational lens radiation injury. For reducing lens radiation injury, radiation protection awareness should be improved. The operators should be skilled and scientific protections should be used, especially on the nuclear medicine personnel. Key words: Crystalline lens; Medicine, nuclear; Radiation, occupational; Radiation injury; Radiation protection