Assessment of Occupational Hazards Exposure among Medical Radiological Workers in Port Harcourt Metropolis of Rivers State

Abstract

Background: In the field of medicine, radiation hazards become inescapable issue because at every point which ranges from meeting the patient, diagnosis to treatment, health personnel are expose them.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the extent of assessment of occupational hazards exposure among medical radiological workers in Port Harcourt metropolis of Rivers State. Six research questions were stated and answered in this study.

Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional survey design was adopted for the study as the research design. The sample size of 314 was determined using Cochran formula method. A multistage sampling procedure was adopted for the study which was presented in three stages in order to select the sample for the study. The instrument for eliciting information for this study was  structured questionnaire titled Questionnaire on Assessment of Occupational Hazards among Medical Radiological Workers (QAOHSPMRW). The Reliability coefficient value of 0.82 was obtained using Pearson Products Moment Correlation Coefficient. Collected data were coded and analyzed using SPSS (version 25.0).

Results: The result illustrated that 269(85.7%) of the respondents had high physical hazards and 45(14.3%) had low physical hazards. The result showed that 231(73.6%) of the respondents had high chemical hazards and 83(26.4%) had low chemical hazards. Also, the result indicated that 273(86.9%) of the respondents had high biological hazards and 41(13.1%) had low biological hazards. The result showed that 260(82.8%) of the respondents had high ergonomic hazards and 54(17.2%) had low ergonomic hazards. The result depicted that 76(24.2%) of the radiological workers had high psychosocial hazards and 238(75.2%) had low psychosocial hazards. The result showed that 220(70.0%) of the respondents had high mechanical hazards and 94(30.0%) had low mechanical hazards.

Conclusion and Recommendation: It was concluded that the extent of occupational hazards exposure among radiological workers was very high. The study recommended that Ministry of Health through hospital management board should form a monitoring and inspection team to check for compliance with safety precautionary measures in different health facilities including medical radiological centres.