Assessment of radiation safety culture among radiological technologists in medical imaging departments in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the perception of radiation safety culture among medical radiological technologists (MRTs) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study was performed from June 2022 to February 2023 and involved MRTs from various hospitals and medical centres in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered and previously validated radiation safety culture survey instrument in medical imaging departments. The survey comprises 11 determinants of radiation safety culture, including personal accountability, teamwork in imaging, teamwork across imaging stakeholders, questioning attitude, feedback loops, organisational learning, leadership actions, non-punitive response, error reporting, radiation policy and overall perception of radiation safety. A total of 496 MRTs participated in this study. Results showed that most of the MRTs were male (75.0%), between 25 and 44 yr old (71.0%), with a bachelor’s degree (53.2%) and had less than 5 yr of experience (41.1%). The highest mean scores were for personal accountability (4.43 ± 0.62) and teamwork in imaging (4.22 ± 0.91), while the lowest mean score was for non-punitive response (2.94 ± 1.01). The majority of the MRTs reported good perception for the personal accountability (71.8%), teamwork in imaging (56.5%) and organisational learning (46%) scales; moderate perception for the teamwork across imaging stakeholders (53.2%), questioning attitude (71%), feedback loops (47.6%), leadership actions (74.2%), error reporting (53.2%), radiation policy (54.8%) and overall perception of radiation safety (62.1%) scales; and poor perception for the non-punitive response scale (45.2%). Individual and organisational interference are warranted to adhere to a strong radiation safety culture with continuing education. Moreover, repeated measures are necessary to assess for categorical improvement associated with the relevant determinants that are also important to support a positive radiation safety culture.