Evaluation of Radiation Knowledge of Non-Medical Doctor Staffs in Orthopaedics and Traumatology Operation Theatre

Objective: The aim of this study was the determine educational status, anxiety, the use of prevention methods and their knowledge level of nurses, operation theatre staffs and technicians about radiation. Methods: This study is a cross-sectional descriptive survey. The universe of our study consists of non-medical doctor staffs (nurses, technicians and operating theatre personnel) of one university and two training and research hospitals in İzmir. The sample selection was not made in our study and the personnels who accepted to participate in the study constituted the sample of the study (n=97). This was a survey of 21 questions. The survey includes participants’ demographical datas, protection type from radiation, anxiety about radiation, knowledge about radiation and education level about radiation. SPSS v21.0 were used for statistical analysis. Results: In our study, 97 participants completed the questionnaire. 51 of the participants were female (52.6%) and 46 were male (47.4%). Forty-one (42.3%) of the participants were 9 health technician (9.3%), 20 (20.6%) anesthesia technicians and 27 (27.8%) operating theatre staffs. It was found that 85 (87.6%) of the participants had operations requiring fluoroscopy in the operating room. It was learned that 29 (29.9%) participants answered the question examining the knowledge about radiation and 38 (39.2%) were educated about radiation safety. When the relationship between the participants’ answers to the question examining the knowledge about radiation and the educational level about radiation was examined, a statistically significant relationship was found between them (p=0.043). Conclusion: It was thought that non-medical doctor employees in the orthopedics and traumatology operating theatre had a high level of anxiety about radiation, had insufficient knowledge, and that training on radiation should be repeated periodically.