The Level of Knowledge About Radiation Safety and the Frequency of the Use of Protective Equipment Among Healthcare workers Exposed to Radiation in Different Units

Abstract

OBJECTIVEWe aimed to investigate the level of knowledge about radiation safety, the frequency of the use of protectiveequipment, and the reasons for not using it among healthcare workers.METHODSThe data were collected by administering a standard cross-sectional survey via the internet to 443 healthcare workers exposed to radiation. The chi-square test was used to compare groups.RESULTSThe median age of participants was 30 years, and 52.8% were females. Participants comprised radiology(61.4%), radiation oncology (21.4%), cardiology (7.2%), fluoroscopy use (5.9%), and nuclear medicine(4.1%) workers. In total, 90.1% of the workers had dosimeters. Of those who used fluoroscopy, only 11.5%had dosimeters. A total of 20.3% of the workers stated that dosimetry is reliable, and 89.7% of the workersin the cardiology and fluoroscopy use groups knew that they had to wear lead aprons (p