Relating factors to wearing personal radiation protectors among healthcare professionals

• Published in: Annals of occupational and environmental medicine 2016, 28(4), , pp.1-6
• Main Authors: Heo, Yunjeong, Chun, Hosun, Kang, Seonghoon, Lee, Wonjin, Jang, Taewon, Park, Jongtae
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Drug dosages; Emergency medical care; Employment; Health aspects; Hospitals; Job classification; Job titles; Likert scale; Medical personnel; Nuclear medicine; Nurses; Protective clothing; Public health; Questionnaires; Radiation therapy; Radiography; Recruitment; Safety management; 예방의학
• ISSN: 2052-4374; 2052-4374
• DOI: 10.1186/s40557-016-0144-x

With increasing use of medical radiologic procedures, wearing proper protector should be emphasized to reduce occupational radiation exposures. This research describes the rates of lead apron wearing for radiation protection and assessed occupational factors related to wearing rates for various types of healthcare professionals. We conducted a self-administered questionnaire survey through a website, on-site visits, fax, and mail. Of the 13,489 participants, 8858 workers who could not completely separate themselves from radiological procedure areas. Their general characteristics (sex and age), work history (job title, duration of employment, and hospital type), and practices (frequency of radiation procedures, ability to completely separate from radiation, and frequency of wearing protective lead aprons) were examined. The mean rate of lead apron wearing during radiologic procedures was 48.0 %. The rate was different according to sex (male: 52.9 %, female: 39.6 %), hospital type (general hospital: 63.0 %, hospital: 51.3 %, clinic: 35.6 %, dental hospital/clinic: 13.3 %, public health center: 22.8 %), and job title (radiologic technologist: 50.3 %, doctor: 70.3 %, dentist/dental hygienist: 15.0 %, nurse/nursing assistant: 64.5 %) (