Knowledge and Skills of Radiographers concerning “Digital Chest Radiography”

Aims: Chest X ray is the first choice for the investigation of cardiovascular and respiratory disease. Radiographer technologists are responsible for managing the radiation exposure to patients and providing adequate image quality according to the ALARA (As Low as Radiation Achievable) concept. The knowledge and skills of radiographers in performing chest radiography helps to improve the diagnosis of diseases. The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and skills of Radiographers on digital chest radiography in medical imaging departments.   Instrument & Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on ۶۵ of radiographers of Yasuj teaching hospitals, which were selected by the census sampling method. The knowledge was measured by the researcher- made questionnaire, and the checklist was used for measuring the skills of the radiographers. ۳۹۰ digital chest radiographs were assessed during and after each procedure. Each radiography was analyzed by two expert radiologists and researchers according to the checklist, and the knowledge was analyzed with SPSS software version ۲۱. Findings: The mean values of the radiographers’ knowledge and skills were ۸۵.۴۸±۶.۴۸ and ۷۸.۷۹±۸.۹۹ (out of ۱۰۰), respectively. ۵.۳۸% of digital chest radiography (۲۱ of ۳۹۰) led to repetition.  Conclusion: Although the awareness and performance of the radiographers in the present study are appropriate, radiographers should be properly trained on digital chest radiography for reducing the patient radiation dose and improve image quality and radiological interpretation.

Keywords:

Chest X ray , Digital Radiography , Knowledge , Practice , Skills