Staff knowledge of radiation protection - Multicentric study in Tunis university hospitals

Purpose. To evaluate the knowledge of orthopaedic operating staff on the radiation protection in Tunis university hospitals. Materials and methods. Our study was a cross-sectional descriptive study. A questionnaire was given to medical and paramedical professionals working in 6 orthopaedic operating rooms in Tunis. We have calculated the Global Knowledge Score for each respondent (GKS) and used non-parametric tests. Results. Within 259 workers, 194 have responded to the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 75%. In our study, 128 (66%) were men (sex ratio: 0.52), 120 (62%) were paramedical and 74 (38%) were medical doctors. The average GKS was 10/17, and significantly different according to professional grade (P = 0.0001). The average GKS was higher in "Trauma and burn Centre" than Rabta Hospital (P = 0.044). There was no significant difference between other hospitals. Furthermore, 91(47%) workers did not know that 2 meters distance considerably reduces personal display to X-rays and 42 (22%) did not know individual means of protection against ionizing radiation's weak doses. Conclusion. Establishing a radiation protection culture in orthopaedic operating room is imperative. Training is still one of the main elements in radiation protection. Person competent in radiation protection should be useful in the context of our study. (C) 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.