Knowledge and perception of the practice of nuclear medicine among physicians in Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto

Abstract

Background: The management of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH), Sokoto, since the year 2011 set the machinery to establish a Department of Nuclear Medicine (NM). The objective of this study is to evaluate the physicians' knowledge and perception of the practice of NM, with a view of improving these when NM services commence at UDUTH, Sokoto. Methods: An anonymized electronic questionnaire was used to conduct this cross-sectional study. The questionnaire had three sections, comprising responders' demography, basic knowledge of NM, and physicians' perception of the practice of NM. The data were collated in an Excel spreadsheet (version 16.53, 2019), and the IBM SPSS package (version 27, 2020) was used to conduct the descriptive statistical tests. Results: Seventy-six doctors participated in the study. Of this figure, females were 19 (24.7%), whereas 57 (75.3%) were males. In terms of designation, there were 2 (2.6%) house officers, 22 (28.6%) registrars, 25 (32.5%) senior registrars, and 27 (35.1%) consultants. Fifty-one (67.1%) respondents clearly understand what NM is, while 18 (23.7%) wrongly identified NM as the field of medicine that uses machines that produces radiation to diagnose and treat certain illnesses, 2 (2.6%) respondents did not respond, while 5 (6.6%) were not sure. Only three (2.6%) physicians were able to correctly identify the rays/particles that are used in NM (beta rays, gamma rays, alpha rays, and positron), the majority of 25 (32.9%) identified gamma rays as the only rays used in NM. Conclusion: The study shows low awareness on what NM is about and the perception on the role of NM in clinical practice is also poor. This has demonstrated the need to enlighten them through lecture and seminar presentations. There is a need for the NM centers in the country to collaborate with the referring clinicians with a view to create awareness on the role of NM services and where these services can be accessed.