KNOWLEDGE,ATTITUDEANDPRACTICEOFST. PAUL’S HOSPITAL MILLENNIUMMEDICALCOLLEGE MEDICALSTUDENTSANDASSOCIATEDFACTORS REGARDINGRADIATIONEXPOSURETOCOMMON DIAGNOSTICIMAGINGPROCEDURES

Abstract

Abstract Background: Ionizing radiation is widely used to diagnose and treat diseases worldwide. Improved knowledge and practices of medical doctors regarding hazards of ionizing radiation is one of the first steps in protecting patients and practitioners from radiation exposure. Various researches including those done in our country show lack of knowledge about ionizing radiation to common diagnostic imaging. Since medical students are the future physicians it is very important to improve their knowledge, attitude and practice regarding radiation exposure to common diagnostic imaging so they can in turn promote safe as well as appropriate use of radiologic resources. Objective: This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of SPHMMC medical students and associated factors regarding radiation exposure to common diagnostic imaging procedures from March 12, 2018 G.C. to June 15, 2018 G.C. Methodology: A hospital based cross-sectional analytic study was conducted on undergraduate clinical year medical students and interns of SPHMMC from March till June of 2018. self-administered structured questionnaire was developed for this research and employed to collect data. The study included 226 participants from clinical year medical students and interns. Simple descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentage is used to summarize the results. Chi-square, bi-variate and multi-variable regression was used to describe the association between level of education, Clinical attachment to radiology department, Confidence with knowledge, perceived importance and knowledge, attitude and practice. Results: Only 1.8% of the participants had good knowledge while 83.2% and 84.1% had negative attitude and poor practice towards radiation safety respectively. Respondents who had negative attitude were also more likely to have poor practice of protective measures and fourth year students were found to be 10 times more likely to have good practices of protective measures against ionizing radiation as compared to interns Conclusion: The study showed that Clinical year medical students and interns had lacking knowledge regarding ionizing radiation and that majority of participants had negative attitude and poor practice of protective measures from ionizing radiation. Further education of medical students is recommended to address the evident lack of knowledge regarding radiation exposure in order to minimize risk of exposure to physicians and patients as well as to promote safe practice and positive attitude towards radiation safety