Comparison of the knowledge of ionizing radiation among radiodiagnostic staff of Secondary and Tertiary Hospitals in Jos

Abstract

Background: Adequate knowledge of not only the benefits in clinical use but also of the potential dangers of ionizing radiation is crucial among staff of radio-diagnostic departments. This balance properly equips the staff and impacts professional practice. The level of such knowledge can be verified among the various cadre of staff in a radio-diagnostic department and comparison madebetween different tiers of health institutions.
Methodology: Across-sectional study was conducted in 2 tertiary hospitals and 2 secondary hospitals in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria between August 2019 and October 2019. All staff of radio-diagnostic departments of the 4 hospitals filled up a distributed questionnaire sheet. The semi structured, validated and selfadministered questionnaire included parts comprising questions about the socio-demographics of the included subjects and on knowledge of ionizing radiation. The retrieved questionnaires were scored and
graded and recorded. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 23.
Results: A total of 60 staff of Radio-diagnostic departments of the involved hospitals participated in the study, made up of 47(78.3%) males and 13(21.7%) females with age range between 24 and 57 years and a mean age of 39 ± 11.2 years. Fifty one (85%) of the participants were staff in the tertiary hospitals while 9 (15%) were in the secondary hospitals. Most of the staff who participated in the study had a good knowledge of ionizing radiation (47; 78.3%). The proportion of participants with good knowledge of ionizing radiation
was higher among the radio-diagnostic staff in the tertiary hospitals (40/51; 78.4%) compared to those in the secondary hospitals (7/9; 77.8%). This difference between the staff in the two categories of health institutions 2 was however not statistically significant, χ =0.0019, p=0.965.
Conclusion:Sufficientbasic knowledge of ionizing radiation subsists among the radio-diagnostic staff of secondary and tertiary  hospitals in Jos.

Key Words: Comparison, Knowledge, Ionizing, Radiation, Secondary, Tertiary, Hospital