Abstract
Radio-diagnostic staff are expected to always and routinely adorn a form of radiation monitoring device to enable objective monitoring of the exposure to each individual with such monitoring aimed at checking any ill effects of radiation. This cross-sectional study aimed at comparing the utilization of radiation monitoring devices among radio-diagnostic staff was conducted in 2 tertiary hospitals and 2 secondary hospitals in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria between August 2019 and October 2019. Consenting staff of radio-diagnostic departments of the 4 hospitals filled up a self-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 23. A total of 60 staff: 51(85%) in the tertiary, and 9 (15%) in the secondary hospitals participated in the study. A positive attitude to the proper use of radiation monitoring device was found to be higher among staff in the tertiary hospitals (44/51; 86.3%) compared to those in the secondary hospitals (7/9; 77.8%); χ2=0.4332, p=0.510. Statistically significant association was established between age of staff and attitude to use of the monitoring device in tertiary facilities: χ2= 9.379, p=0.05, and also between age of staff, years in service and years in the department and the practical usage of the radiation monitoring device among the staff of the secondary hospitals: χ2= 9.000, p=0.029; χ23.937, p=0.047; χ23.937, p=0.047 respectively. The utilization of radiation monitoring devices among the radio-diagnostic staff in Jos was predominantly positive. Age of the staff, years in service as well as years in the present department were significant associations to utilization of radiation monitoring devices among staff across the two hospital categories.
Highlights
The discovery of X-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen which won him the Nobel Prize for Physics 6 years later shaped a revolution in the field of medicine [Revolvy portal, https://www.revolvy.com/page/Wilhelm-Röntgen, Last accessed on 3/3/2019]
The scale ranged from “Agree Strongly” (AS), “Agree” (A), “Not Certain” (NC), “Disagree” (D), and “Disagree Strongly” (DA) while responses to practical use of the monitoring device were to be supplied in form of short fill-ups to blank spaces provided as addendum at the end of the questions
Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), a Federal Government parastatal, alone, provided 46 (76.7%) of the respondents in the study. The import of this is that limited hands are left to render middle level radio-diagnostic services to the teeming population of patients expected in the secondary hospitals with the attendant heightening of the radiation related health risks and hazards to the few staff
Summary
The discovery of X-rays in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen which won him the Nobel Prize for Physics 6 years later shaped a revolution in the field of medicine [Revolvy portal, https://www.revolvy.com/page/Wilhelm-Röntgen, Last accessed on 3/3/2019]. Workers in a radiation department have an increased risk for radiation exposure than the general hospital population [1] These group including Radiologists, Radiographers, Physicists, Biomedical Engineers, Darkroom Technicians, X-ray Assistants and Radiation Nurses constitute the largest single group of workers occupationally exposed to artificial sources of radiation. Such artificial sources of radiation have continued to vary and increase
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