A STUDY OF THE ERGONOMICS OF THE MEDICAL IMAGING SCIENTIST IN SOUTH-SOUTH, NIGERIA.

Background: The dynamics of man’s relationship to his work environment have a lot to do with the productivity, output and results obtainable. Objective: This study sought to determine for the first time, to establish the perception of the Medical Imaging Scientist of the ergonomic variables of Job satisfaction (JS), Health & Safety (HS) and Performance (P) in Radiology Departments in South-South region of Nigeria. Materials and Method: A prospective survey with 100 self completion questionnaires was conducted among Radiographers (65) and Radiologists (35) in the South-South Nigeria. No stratification was observed among the professionals. Questions sought responses in a scale of 1-5 (with 5 being best positive response) relating to job satisfaction, health and safety issues and performance of personnel. Simple percentages were use to organize the results obtained and deductions made accordingly. A two sample t-statistic was used to determine any differences between the perceptions for good against bad ergonomics at the 95% confidence interval. The Pearson’s linear correlation coefficient was used to determine any relationships between the three ergonomic parameters. Responses included indication of musculoskeletal conditions which respondents had suffered from work. Results: Information obtained from responses revealed that about 29% of respondents were satisfied with their jobs. At least 44% of respondents felt there was sufficient provision for their health and safety at work, while about 41% rated their performance as being good on a scale of Excellent > Good > Fair > Poor. Strong positive linear relationships (r ≥ 0.8) were found between the three parameters but none of these was statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest that factors other than health and safety may be determinants of the imaging scientists’ job satisfaction and performance.