Assessment of Health Professionals' Attitudes on Radiation Protection Measures.

Aspasia Goula,Emmanouil Brilakis,Athanasios Chatzis,Maria-Aggeliki Stamouli,Martha Kelesi,Evridiki Kaba

doi:10.3390/ijerph182413380

Abstract

(1) Background: Health professionals’ knowledge, beliefs and perceptions concerning radiation protection may affect their behaviour during surgery and consequently influence the quality of health services. This study highlights the health professionals’ average knowledge level and captures the beliefs, perceptions, and behaviours in a large public Greek hospital. (2) Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out, including health professionals working in operating rooms. One hundred thirty-two staff members participated by responding to an original questionnaire. The sample consisted of nurses, radiographers and medical doctors of various specialties involved daily in surgical procedures where ionizing radiation is required. The survey was conducted from March to June 2021, and the response rate was 97%. (3) Results: The level of overall knowledge of health professionals regarding radiation protection safety was not satisfactory. Females and employees with a lower level of education had more misconceptions about radiation and radiation protection. Employees of younger ages and with less previous experience were more likely to have negative emotions towards radiation exposure. Finally, employees with fewer children tended to express physical complaints caused by their negative emotions due to radiation exposure. (4) Conclusions: Health professionals’ lack of basic and specialized knowledge concerning radiation protection safety had a negative impact on the provision of health services. The continuing training of the staff seemed to be the only solution to reverse this trend. The training should highlight how radiation exposure can be minimized, safeguarding health professionals’ trust and sense of security by significantly improving their working environment.

Highlights

The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) notes that the general population’s exposure to ionizing radiation from natural sources is constant and cannot be avoided [1]
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This resulted from a lack of education, and he proposed that training in practical understanding of radiation protection should be included in their primary education [36]

Summary

Introduction

The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) notes that the general population’s exposure to ionizing radiation from natural sources is constant and cannot be avoided [1]. Ionizing radiation is known to be widely used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. With the advancement of medical science and the use of new practical applications over recent decades, the use of ionizing radiation has significantly increased [2–6]. There are two categories of ionizing radiation’s health effects. There are the deterministic effects that are related directly to the absorbed radiation dose and their severity increases with the dose increase. Deterministic effects are based on tissue damage. Lens opacities induced by ionising radiation and skin erythema are regarded as deterministic effects.

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