Assessing the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Mammography Staffs about the Principles of Protection against Ionizing Radiation

Radiographers’ Knowledge, Attitude and Practice and their implementation in their daily routines, play a significant role in radiation protection. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the radiographers’ Knowledge, Attitude and Practice (KAP) about radiation protection. This study was conducted in 10 provinces of Iran in 2014-2015 and respondents in this study were 172 personnel of mammography departments. A validated questionnaire was designed to be used in a descriptive, cross-sectional study to examine radiographers' Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about radiation protection in selected imaging centers in Iran in 2014-2015. Data gathered via the questionnaire involved some demographic information consisting of the specialty, job title, expertise in years, time passed since graduation, gender, type of centers, including educational, non-educational and private. The results indicate no significant difference between two genders (p-value=0.067), educational age (p-value=0.862) and practice age (p-value=0.415). Moreover, there was no significant difference in type of hospital (Educational, Non educational and Private clinic) (p-value=0.159), but it was indicated that there was significant difference between regions (Capital, Center, East, North and West) (p-value=0.003). Our study showed that knowledge, practice and attitude of mammography personnel were not enough. Therefore, continuous and complete educational programs, including principles of radiation protection is required for radiology staffs and the importance of these programs should be considered differently around the country. The findings of this study can help to develop educational policies in order to balance the status of knowledge concerning radiation protection and its potential hazards in different regions of Iran.