{"title":"Radiation dose to health care workers measured by thermoluminescent dosimetry.","authors":"M Alakhras, D S Al-Mousa, B Al Mohammad, I Kleib","doi":"10.1016/j.crad.2024.09.018","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Aim: </strong>To evaluate radiation dose among physicians, nurses, nuclear medicine (NM) technicians, and radiographers at a single institution and to compare the difference in the measured dose during COVID-19 with other periods.</p><p><strong>Materials and methods: </strong>A retrospective analysis of the occupational radiation doses received by all workers in diagnostic radiography and NM departments at a single institution during a 5-year period (2018-2022) was performed. Dose measurements were recorded for 94 radiology personnel: radiographers, NM technicians, physicians, and nurses. In addition to descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare the average annual effective dose between male and female workers and between the periods before and during COVID-19. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare effective radiation doses from different quadrants.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The annual average effective doses were found to be between 0.58 and 0.72 mSv for males and 0.68 and 0.85 mSv for females. All radiographers, 86% of nurses, and 69% of physicians have received annual average effective doses below 0.99 mSv. The average annual effective doses for all radiation workers were similar in the period before COVID-19 when compared to the period during COVID-19 except for nurses who had significantly lower (P<0.05) doses before COVID-19.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The average annual effective doses of radiation workers during 2018-2022 were well below the annual dose limit. A relatively higher average effective dose was received among NM technicians compared with other radiation occupational workers. While the caseload during the COVID-19 pandemic was lower due to government policies, the radiation dose to healthcare workers during the pandemic was similar to that before the pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":10695,"journal":{"name":"Clinical radiology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Clinical radiology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.crad.2024.09.018","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"RADIOLOGY, NUCLEAR MEDICINE & MEDICAL IMAGING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aim: To evaluate radiation dose among physicians, nurses, nuclear medicine (NM) technicians, and radiographers at a single institution and to compare the difference in the measured dose during COVID-19 with other periods.
Materials and methods: A retrospective analysis of the occupational radiation doses received by all workers in diagnostic radiography and NM departments at a single institution during a 5-year period (2018-2022) was performed. Dose measurements were recorded for 94 radiology personnel: radiographers, NM technicians, physicians, and nurses. In addition to descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney U-test was used to compare the average annual effective dose between male and female workers and between the periods before and during COVID-19. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to compare effective radiation doses from different quadrants.
Results: The annual average effective doses were found to be between 0.58 and 0.72 mSv for males and 0.68 and 0.85 mSv for females. All radiographers, 86% of nurses, and 69% of physicians have received annual average effective doses below 0.99 mSv. The average annual effective doses for all radiation workers were similar in the period before COVID-19 when compared to the period during COVID-19 except for nurses who had significantly lower (P<0.05) doses before COVID-19.
Conclusion: The average annual effective doses of radiation workers during 2018-2022 were well below the annual dose limit. A relatively higher average effective dose was received among NM technicians compared with other radiation occupational workers. While the caseload during the COVID-19 pandemic was lower due to government policies, the radiation dose to healthcare workers during the pandemic was similar to that before the pandemic.
期刊介绍:
Clinical Radiology is published by Elsevier on behalf of The Royal College of Radiologists. Clinical Radiology is an International Journal bringing you original research, editorials and review articles on all aspects of diagnostic imaging, including:
• Computed tomography
• Magnetic resonance imaging
• Ultrasonography
• Digital radiology
• Interventional radiology
• Radiography
• Nuclear medicine
Papers on radiological protection, quality assurance, audit in radiology and matters relating to radiological training and education are also included. In addition, each issue contains correspondence, book reviews and notices of forthcoming events.