Patients and Patients’ Relatives Perception of Cleanliness in Radiology Department of a Nigerian Teaching Hospital

Background: Cleanliness and dirt are a dichotomy to categorize a particular environment especially hospital settings in which cleanliness pave a great linkage to patient satisfaction on quality of care and reduction of infection. Dirt creates negative thought on the quality of services being rendered to patients in the hospital environment. Objectives: To assess the perception of patients and their relatives on the level of cleanliness in radiology department of Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) Sokoto and to determine which amongst the diagnostic rooms is the cleanest (Computed Tomography (CT) room, Routine X-rays room or contrast exams room (fluoroscopy)). Materials and Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, 100 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents of which 66 in Routine xray room, 23 in CT suit and 11 in contrast examination room. Out of the 100 questionnaires nine were not returned and the remaining 91 were analysed. The questionnaire contains fifteen statements in total apart from the socio-demographic component. The count of responses was considered and for each type of response (SA, A, N, D, and SD) the percentage were calculated using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 23.0. Results: Sixty percent of the respondents were patients while 40% were relatives of patients that were critically ill. The modal age range of the respondents was 25-34years, 58% were married, while 48.4% were civil servants. The result of our study shows that the respondents have adequate knowledge on cleanliness with a mean score of 4.3, they perceived radiology department as a clean environment for diagnosis and visitation but need further improvement. According to the findings, CT room was the cleanest (87.0%) followed by contrast examination room 64.0% and routine X-rays room was the least 47.0%. It also revealed that lack of manpower is the cause of inadequate sanitation. Conclusion: Radiology Department in Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital is clean and the CT suit is the cleanest.