M . El Fahssi et al .: Radioprotection 2024 , 59 ( 3 ), 189 – 196 191
Table 1 . Demographic data of radiographers who participated in this study
|
|
Participants |
Percentage % |
Sex |
M |
28 |
35 |
|
F |
52 |
65 |
|
Under 25 years |
26 |
32.5 |
Age |
25 – 35 years |
52 |
65 |
|
35 – 45 years |
2 |
2.5 |
Years of professional experience |
Over 45 years
5 – 10 years
|
0
30
|
0
37.5
|
|
11 – 15 years |
4 |
5 |
|
Over 15 years |
0 |
0 |
Worksite |
H1 |
26.00 |
32.5 |
|
H2 |
9.00 |
11.25 |
|
H3 |
10.00 |
12.5 |
|
H4 |
15.00 |
18.75 |
|
H5 |
12.00 |
15 |
|
H6 |
8.00 |
10 |
Education level |
Bachelor ’ s degree |
74 |
92.5 |
|
Master ’ s degree |
6 |
7.5 |
67.5 % confirmed that they do not use a guide to radiological procedures , including written procedures for the most common radiological examinations and recommendations for reducing radiation doses . 90 % comply with the administrative procedure for performing radiological examinations , in particular the requirement for an examination form ( examination voucher ) listing exactly the examinations to be performed and the clinical indications . 97.5 % of our participants said that they automatically ( without medical advice ) repeat the X-ray examination if the image is not interpretable .
The results show that 85 % of our participants confirmed that they had checked for the possibility of pregnancy each time a woman of childbearing age was involved in a conventional X-ray , compared with 97.5 % who checked for the possibility of pregnancy in a CT-scan . In addition , 90 % of radiographers said that they do not report parameters for dose estimation ( mAs , kV , FFD , field size , number of examinations ) for each conventional X-ray examination , and 72.5 % do not report data for dose estimation for CT-scan examinations , such as the dose length product ( DLP ) and the computed tomography dose index ( CTDI ).
Regarding the adaptation of acquisition parameters to the patient ’ s age and morphology , 90 % of radiographers say they always adjust acquisition parameters in conventional radiology , compared with 42.5 % in CT-scan examinations . Concerning the radiation protection of children in conventional radiology , only 37.5 % of our participants stated that they use radiation protection equipment appropriate to the age of the child ( thyroid shield , gonad shield , etc .). For CT , only 5 % of our radiographers consult the reference levels in terms of PDL and CTDI before each new acquisition .
4 Discussion
The population in our study was very young , with 97.5 % aged under 35 years , and 95 % of the participants had less than
10 years of professional experience . In addition , 92.5 % of the participants had a bachelor ’ s degree . This situation reflects the new recruitment policy of the Moroccan Ministry of Health , with the adoption of regional recruitment and the promotion of basic training for health professionals , particularly radiographers . It turns out that young radiographers with less than 3 years of experience showed a higher level of knowledge than the more experienced radiographers ( Paolicchi et al ., 2016 ).
The results of our study show that 65 % of radiographers stated that they were aware of the procedures for justifying and optimising radiographic examinations , and 35 % were unaware of these procedures . In addition , statistical analysis showed that of the participants who said they were aware of the justification and optimisation procedures , 46 % said they added additional radiological examinations without medical advice , and 96 % of them tended to automatically repeat each radiological image treated as defective , while only 46 % reported the number of examinations repeated . Furthermore , 92 % of radiographers who were aware of radiation protection procedures did not report the dosimetric information needed to calculate the doses received by patients . In addition , 57 % of radiographers do not use radiation protection equipment adapted to the age and morphology of children . This analysis shows that radiographers ’ knowledge of patient radiation protection does not match their attitudes and practices , which justifies the importance of carrying out this study . This result is in agreement with a previous study conducted in Egypt , which revealed that although 51.3 % of the staff working in the radiology department were aware of radiation protection procedures , 82 % of them did not have practical knowledge on the use of radiation safety measures ( Salah Eldeen , 2020 ).
In fact , Radiographers ’ ignorance of certain aspects of radiation protection can lead to unnecessary increases in radiation doses delivered to the patient ( Paolicchi et al ., 2016 ). In this context , several previous studies assessing the doses received by patients and establishing local DRLs in the Souss