Evaluation of Radiation Protection (Knowledge, Attitude and Practices) and Radiation Side Effects Awareness Among Health Workers in Bungoma County Referral Health Facilities
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Date
2021Author
Macharia, Moses, G
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Study background: There has been an increase in ionizing radiation producing diagnostic
equipment in Kenya. While its use is highly beneficial in medical diagnosis, exposure to high
doses of ionizing radiation to patients and health workers are hazardous. Hence, health workers
must have adequate knowledge of radiation protection to ensure their safety and that of their
patients. However, the knowledge and practices of healthcare workers regarding radiation
protection in Western Kenya are largely unknown due to the paucity of data.
Broad objective: To assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices on radiation protection and
radiation side effects awareness among health workers in the Bungoma County Referral Health
Facilities.
Study design and sites: A cross-sectional observational study was carried in Bungoma County
Referral Health Facilities (Bungoma County Referral Hospital and Webuye County Hospital).
Participants and methods: The study included nurses, clinical officer interns, clinical
officers, medical officer interns, medical officers, residents and specialists in the study
facilities. A sample size of 339 conveniently selected health workers was included in the study.
Research assistants were employed for the actual data collection after a one-day training
exercise. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were
used to analyze the data with mean or median for continuous variables and frequency and
percentages for the categorical variables. The Chi-square test was used to determine the
association between knowledge, attitude, and practices with p-value of < 0.05 considered
statistically significant.
Utility of the study: The study aimed to identify gaps in knowledge on radiation protection
and radiation side effects in order to inform the need and design of interventions measures.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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