Health Educational Program for Radiographers Regarding Effect of Dark Room.

Background: Radiographers are exposed to certain chemicals which lead to some adverse health effects. Nevertheless, radiographers report many unexplained work-related symptoms attributed to dark room disease symptoms. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of educational program for radiographers regarding effects of the dark room. Research design: A quasi experimental design was used. Setting: The study was conducted at the X-ray department affiliated with Benha University Hospital. Sample: Convenience sample of 70 radiographers was used. Tools: Three tools were used; Tool I: A structured interview questionnaire pre & post health educational program that consists of two parts; Part I: Socio demographic & work characteristic data of radiographers. Part II: Concerned with radiographer's knowledge about the dark room effects. Part III: Concerned with radiographers’ health problems regarding effects of darkroom omitting through the last six months. Tool II: Observational checklist to assess radiographers’ practice about safety measures. Tool III: Assess the environment of the radiology department. Results: 64.3% of the studied radiographers suffered from health problems such as headache, fatigue, respiratory problems and skin ulcers pre implementation of educational health program, which decreased to 51.4% in post implementation, 14.3% of the studied radiographers had total good knowledge level pre implementation of the program compared to 81.4 % post implementation, 32.9% of the studied radiographers had satisfactory practice Conclusion: The health educational program succeeded to improve the radiographers' level of knowledge and practice regarding the dark room effects and decrease the health problems. Recommendation: Continuous health educational program and classes for radiographers to improve their knowledge and enhance their practice level regarding caring them from dark room effects.