Perception of non-radiation healthcare workers about radiation in Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana

Abstract

The patient management team includes a wide category of healthcare workers, who in one way or the other interact to render services, including radiation-based services. It becomes imperative that every healthcare worker must have appreciable knowledge and opinions on radiation issues for effective service delivery. Hence, this study assesses the perception of non-radiation healthcare workers about radiation. This was a prospective questionnaire-based study involving 340 consented participants from four hospitals in Cape Coast. A stratified sampling method was employed for the number of respondents from each hospital. The responses obtained from Google Forms WhatsApp-administered questionnaires, were systematically selected to obtain the sample size. Data obtained were analysed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL version 20.0) and the results were presented in appropriate tables and charts. Statistical significance level was set at p≤0.05. The majority of the 340 participants were males. The average age was 32.26±7.618 years. Nurses constituted majority 166 (48.8%) of respondents, followed by allied health professionals. The knowledge of participants about radiation issues was high with over 65% of responses. There were statistically significant associations between gender, educational level, work experience and willingness to accept postings to radiology departments. We conclude that, the majority of non-radiation healthcare workers had a high level of knowledge about radiation issues. The perception of non-radiation healthcare workers was positive from suggestions and recommendations they offered.