ABSTRACT

TITLE: Assessment of knowledge and awareness of Radiotherapy among clinical Radiography Students

AIM: To ascertain the level of knowledge and awareness of radiotherapy among clinical Radiography students in northern Nigeria 

METHODOLOGY: A prospective cross-sectional design was adopted for the study. A primary source of data using questionnaire was used in obtaining the data and data was analyzed using SPSS V.20 generating statistical information such as frequencies and percentages.

RESULT: A total of one hundred and seventy two (172) students responded to the questionnaire. Out of the 172 students, 170 (98.8%) students affirmed knowing what radiotherapy means while only two (1.2%) claimed ignorant of its meaning. Sixty four (37.2%) claim to have seen a radiotherapy equipment while one hundred and eight (62.8%) haven’t seen one. The students’ knowledge on radiotherapy was graded and fifty-one (29.7%) have poor knowledge, seventy-seven (44.8%) have a good knowledge and forty-four (25.6%) have a very good knowledge of radiotherapy. Among the female respondents, seventeen (30.4%) have poor knowledge, twenty-one (37.5%) and eighteen (32.1%) have a good and very good knowledge of radiotherapy respectively. Thirty-four (29.3%) from the male respondents were graded poor, fifty-six (48.3%) have good knowledge and twenty-six (22.4%) have a very good knowledge of radiotherapy. Knowledge grading based on level of study reveals that 500 level students have a better knowledge of radiotherapy with twenty (60.6%) of the respondents having a very good knowledge..

CONCLUSION: The level of knowledge of radiotherapy was found out to be good. However, level of awareness on the current status of radiotherapy in Nigeria is very low. Male Student Radiographers are more knowledgeable about Radiotherapy than their female counterparts. Students from 500 level have more knowledge on Radiotherapy than the other levels of study.

TABLE OF CONTENT

CHAPTER ONE…………………………………………………………………...1

INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………..1

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM……………………………………………...2

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY……………………………………………3

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY………………………………………....3

SCOPE OF THE STUDY…………………………………………………...3

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY……………………………………………3

DEFINITION OF TERMS…………………………………………………..4

CHAPTER TWO…………………………………………………………………...5

EMPERICAL REVIEW……………………………………………………..5

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND…………………………………………11

HISTORY OF RADIOTHERAPY………………………………….11

PRINCIPLE OF RADIOTHERAPY………………………………..12

INDICATIONS OF RADIOTHERAPY…………………………....13

RADIOTHERAPY DELIVERY METHOD………………………..13

EXTERNAL BEAM RADIATION THERAPY……………14

INTERNAL RADIATION THERAPY…………………...20

SIDE EFFECTS OF RADIOTHERAPY………………………….22

CHAPTER THREE………………………………………………………………25

STUDY DESIGN…………………………………………………………..25

SOURCE OF DATA……………………………………………………….25

STUDY POPULATION…………………………………………………....25

SAMPLE SIZE……………………………………………………………..25

SAMPLING TECHNIQUE………………………………………………...25

RECRUITMENT OF SUBJECT…………………………………………...26

INSTRUMENT OF DATA COLLECTION……………………………….26

DATA ANALYSIS………………………………………………………...26

ETHICAL CONSIDERATION…………………………………………….26

CHAPTER FOUR…………………………………………………………………27RESULTS…………………………………………………………………..27

CHAPTER FIVE………………………………………………………………….36

DISCUSSION………………………………………………………………36

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS……………………………………………….39

CONCLUSION……………………………………………………………..40

RECOMMENDATION…………………………………………………….41

AREAS OF FURTHER STUDY...........................................………………42

REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………...43

APPENDIX…………………………………………………………………………46