Radioprotection No 59-2 | Page 81

140 N . Shubayr : Radioprotection 2024 , 59 ( 2 ), 138 – 143

Table 1 . Demographic and professional characteristics of 228 participants .

a preliminary study was conducted including 15 participants and no modifications of the items were warranted . The Cronbach ’ s Alpha coefficients of the subscales ranged from 0.77 to 0.92 , indicating satisfactory internal consistency . As a result , these subscales were deemed suitable for utilization in the current study .

2.4 Statistical analyses

The data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences ( version 26 software from IBM Corp .). Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the participants ’ characteristics . The Kolmogorov – Smirnov test was employed to assess the normality of the data . Nonparametric tests , namely the Mann – Whitney , were utilized to examine the associations between variables . Logistic regression analysis , employing the ENTER method , was conducted to compare the dependent variable “ RPE utilization ” with a set of independent factors ( socio-demographic items and HBM constructs ). Adjusted odds ratios ( AOR ) and their 95 % confidence intervals were calculated for all independent variables . Statistical significance was considered at a p-value of 0.05 .

3 Results

In the current study , a questionnaire was administered to 228 radiologic technologists who were working in fluoroscopy units . As shown in Table 1 , the majority of the radiologic technologists , accounting for 78 % of the participants , were male . Among the surveyed radiologic technologists , 43 % belonged to the age group of 20 – 29 years . Furthermore , it was observed that 62 % of the radiologic technologists were married . In terms of educational qualifications , 55 % of the radiologic technologists held bachelor ’ s degrees , while 45 % possessed a diploma . Most of the radiologic technologists in this study work in public hospitals ( 84 %). The majority had 1 – 9 years of experience ( 51 %). Regarding the question about their commitment to using RPE , 63 % of the radiologic technologists stated that they fully adhere to RPE utilization , while 37 % reported not fully committed .

Table 2 displays the mean scores obtained from participants in the study for the HBM constructs and their association with RPE utilization . The overall results indicate that perceived benefits had the highest mean score ( 3.35 ± 0.85 ), and perceived barriers ( 2.65 ± 1.01 ) had the lowest mean score . Based on RPE utilization , perceived severity , perceived benefits , perceived barriers , cues to action , and self-efficacy showed significant associations between the two groups of radiologic technologists : those who always use RPE and those who are not fully committed ( p < 0.05 ). * P-value based on Mann-Whitney U test . Table 3 shows the results of the multivariate logistic regression analysis to identify independent predictors of RPE utilization . Logistic regression showed that perceived benefits were a significant predictor of RPE utilization ( AOR = 0.20 , 95 % CI : 0.60 – 0.67 , p = 0.009 ), and type of hospital was also a significant predictor ( AOR = 0.09 , 95 % CI : 0.1 – 0.97 , p = 0.047 ).

4 Discussion

The findings of this study provide important insights into the health behavior of radiologic technologists towards the use of RPE in the fluoroscopy units . Our findings regarding the commitment of RPE utilization among radiologic technologists revealed that 63 % ( n = 144 ) of the radiologic technologists reported that they are always committed to the use of the RPE , while 37 % ( n = 84 ) reported not fully committed . According to a study conducted in Bangladesh , the majority of workers ( 92.5 %) utilize RPE , while a small proportion ( 7.5 %) do not ( Salim et al ., 2022 ). Additionally , another study revealed that radiologic technologists adhere to RPE usage , with 83.1 % applying it for themselves and 78.9 % for patients ( Mojiri et al ., 2011 ). However , our study found that a substantial number of radiologic technologists ( 37 %) reported being not fully committed to RPE usage , which indicate immediate interventions to emphasize the importance of using RPE consistently to reduce radiation exposure risks in the workplace .

The HBM is a theoretical framework that explains health behaviors based on individual beliefs and perceptions about a health threat and the benefits and barriers of preventive actions . Higher scores on HBM indicate stronger beliefs or perceptions about the use of RPE . Table 2 indicates that the radiologic technologists have moderate levels of beliefs and perceptions about radiation exposure and RPE use , with mean scores ranging from 2.65 to 3.35 on a 5-point Likert scale . The highest mean score is for perceived benefits ( 3.35 ), followed by selfefficacy ( 3.06 ), perceived susceptibility ( 2.89 ), cues to action ( 2.86 ), perceived seriousness ( 2.77 ), and perceived barriers ( 2.65 ). This suggests that the radiologic technologists recognize the benefits of using RPE and have confidence in their ability to do so , but they also perceive some barriers and have low levels of perceived susceptibility and seriousness of radiation exposure . Thes perceptions among radiologic