Radiation Safety Awareness amongst Staff and Patients in the Hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

This study aimed to evaluate the radiation safety condition and the level of radiation-awareness amongst staff and patients in 18 hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. This descriptive, cross–sectional study was administered to patients and personnel, also making a review on the radiation-safety status in the hospitals. In evaluating the level of awareness, 218 patients and 173 staff took part in the survey. A12-question inventory was used for evaluating radiation-safety status. In addition, 2 questionnaires including 15 and 6 questions were used in order to evaluate the level of radiation awareness among staffs and patients respectively. The questionnaires used included personal and general questions and its validity and reliability had been confirmed (Cronbach''s alpha =0.711). The results have shown 71.1% good radiation-safety awareness among staff. Moreover, the level of staff awareness was not associated with educational level, gender, field of study, age and job experience. Conversely, only 6% of the patients have shown a good awareness level. In addition, as it depicted by the results there was a significant relation between awareness level and age (P<0.017), job (p<0.000) and educational level (p<0.004). Furthermore, the radiation safety status in 5 medical nuclear center and 18 radiology facility was 70% and 74%, in turn. Unfortunately, radiation safety awareness is generally inadequate among radiologists and particularly poor in patients. The authors firmly recommend that patients should have more practical training and information available in this context.