Assessment of Doctor’s Level of Knowledge on Radiation Protection with Respect to CT Examinations at Mzuzu Central Hospital

Blessed Kondowe¹, Brave Kadoko Nyirenda¹, Elijah Ndlovu Kampala¹, Zhe Liu², Jin Shang²*

1. Mzuzu Central Hospital, Radiology department, P/Bag 209, Luwinga, Mzuzu, Malawi.
2. The First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University, Department of Medical Imaging, Shaanxi Province, Xi’an City, PR China.

*Correspondence: Jin Shang; E-mail:shangjin01@qq.com

Abstract
Background
Radiation protection is the most important practice in medical imaging, and referring physicians responsible for requesting radiological examinations, including computed tomography (CT), must be aware of and compliant with it in order to minimize future carcinogenic risks. This study aimed at assessing medical doctors’ level of knowledge on radiation protection with respect to CT examinations at Mzuzu Central Hospital (MCH).
Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted at MCH in July 2019. A questionnaire was used to collect relevant data from CT medical doctors. All medical doctors registered with the Medical Council of Malawi (MCM) were included in the study. The purposive sampling method was used due to the small number of medical doctors at the facility. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 was used for descriptive analysis. Categorical variables were expressed as frequencies and percentages.
Result
Out of 24 medical doctors, 23 (95.8%) of them were aware of radiation protection, and 21 (87.5%) were involved in CT examination prescription at MCH. However, 11 (45.8%) of the medical doctors are not aware that more medical radiation is contributed by CT scans. Similarly, the study found that 13 (54.2%) of the doctors do not always consider radiation protection principles of justification and as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) when prescribing CT examinations. Furthermore, 20.8% of the medical doctors do not know the role of non-radiation imaging modalities like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and ultrasound scanning (USS).
Conclusion
Much as the majority of the medical doctors are aware of radiation protection, most of them are not aware that CT scanners emit more radiation than general x-rays, with 54.2% adhering to fundamental principles of radiation protection. About 20.8% of the doctors are not conversant with the role of non-radiation imaging modalities like MRI or USS and when to use them.

Keywords: Computed tomography, radiation protection, carcinogenic effects, ALARA principle, knowledge