• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.86-93
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• 2017

Purpose In this study, radiation workers who work in nuclear medicine department were analyzed to find the cause of differences of radiation exposure from General Characteristic, Knowledge, Recognition and Conduct, especially females working on nuclear medicine radiation, in order to pave the way for positive defense against radiation exposure. Materials and Methods The subjects were 106 radiation workers who were divided into two groups of sixty-four males and forty-two females answered questions about their General Characteristic, Knowledge, Recognition, Conduct, and radiation exposure dose which was measured by TLD (Thermo Luminescence Dosimeter). Results The results of the analysis revealed that as the higher score of knowledge and conduct was shown, the radiation exposure decreased in female groups, and as the higher score of conduct was shown, the radiation exposure decreased in male groups. In the correlation analysis of female groups, the non-experienced in pregnancy showed decreasing amount of radiation exposure as the score of knowledge and conduct was higher and the experienced in pregnancy showed decreasing amount of radiation exposure as the score of recognition and conduct was higher. In the regression analysis on related factors of radiation exposure dose of nuclear medicine radiation workers, the gender caused the meaningful result and the amount of radiation exposure of female groups compared to male groups. In the regression analysis on related factors of radiation exposure dose of female groups, the factor of conduct showed a meaningful result and the amount of radiation exposure of the experienced in pregnancy was lower compared to the non-experienced. Conclusion The conclusion of this study revealed that radiation exposure of female groups was lower than that of male groups. Therefore, male groups need to more actively defend themselves against radiation exposure. Among the female groups, the experienced in pregnancy who have an active defense tendency showed a lower radiation exposure. Thus, those who have never been pregnant need to have a more active defensive conduct for the future possibility of pregnancy.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.11
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• pp.383-388
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to compare radiation dose among workers in the radiation zone and to compare the doses of students in clinical practice in the same area to provide basic data on optimization of radiation protection. The subjects were 121 radiation related workers, 36 radiation workers, and 121 students who completed 8 weeks of clinical practice from Jan. 2016 to Dec. The depth and surface dose between the radiation related workers and the radiation workers were the highest with $.7440{\pm}1.676mSv$ and $.7753{\pm}1.730mSv$, respectively, and statistically significant (p<.01). Among the three groups, the depth dose was the highest at $.143{\pm}.136mSv$ for clinical practice students and the highest at surface dose of $.1513{\pm}.139mSv$. The lowest in both cases, The mean difference between the two groups was statistically significant (p<.01). In conclusion, it is necessary to manage thoroughly according to the ALARA(As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle. Especially, it is necessary to systematically manage the dose of radiation for clinical students who are in the blind spot of radiation safety management.

• Korean Journal of Health Education and Promotion
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.99-113
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• 2002

While the use of radiation in the medical field provides diagnosis and treatment with important benefits, we cannot deny that the radiation bombing causes some hindrances. The expansion of radiation use in modem medicine is essential, so the radiation use and preparation of proper measure for safety management has risen as a pressing subject. Therefore, in order to make defensive plans for the prevention of health obstacles to general users of radiation and for the provision of basic data of the health education programs to radiation workers by grasping the knowledge, attitude and behavior towards the radiation safety management of radiation workers in each medical institution and by analyzing the factors that affect the actions of radiation safety management, in this study we conducted questionnaires from September 26 to November 5, 2001 targeting 805 radiation workers in 108 medical institutions including university hospitals, general hospitals, hospitals, clinics and public health centers etc. located in Seoul, four metropolitan cities and small and medium cities, and has obtained the following results. 1. The average point of knowledge on the radiation safety management was 10.96 out of 15. As for the general characteristics, the level of knowledge on radiation safety management was higher with older age, high education background and longer career. 2. The average point of attitude on the radiation safety management was 66.36 out of 75. The attitude point for general characteristics were higher with higher education background, longer career and in case of universities, the level of attitude on the radiation safety management was high. 3. The average of action points on the radiation safety management was 56.09 out of 75. In general characteristics, the action level of radiation safety level was higher with older age, longer career, and the reception of radiation education and in case of university hospitals. 4. It is analyzed that the relation of knowledge, attitude and behavior on the radiation safety management is higher as the levels of knowledge and attitude on the radiation safety management is higher. 5. As a result of analyzing the factors that affect the knowledge on the radiation safety management, the variables that can be explained best was in the order of ‘the behavior on the radiation safety management’, ‘work career’, ‘the attitude on the radiation safety management’, and ‘school career’. 6. As a result of analyzing the factors that affect the attitude on the radiation safety management, the variables that can be explained best was in the order of ‘the behavior on the radiation safety management’, ‘the knowledge on the radiation safety management’, and ‘school career’. 7. As a result of analyzing the factors that affect the behavior on the radiation safety management, the variables that can be explained best was in the order of ‘the attitude on the radiation safety management’, ‘the knowledge on the radiation safety management’, and ‘the frequency of radiation education

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.445-451
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• 2021

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the reliability and validity of the self-administered questionnaire for Korean radiation workers. Methods: From May 24, 2016, to June 30, 2017, 20,608 participants completed the questionnaire, providing information on sociodemographics, lifestyle, work history and practices, medical radiation exposure, and medical history, which was linked to the National Dose Registry and the National Cancer Registry. The validity of the questionnaire was evaluated using the responses of 20,608 workers, and reliability was evaluated using the responses of 3043 workers who responded to the survey twice. Results: Responses concerning demographic characteristics and lifestyle showed reliability with a moderate-to-high agreement (kappa: 0.43-0.99), whereas responses concerning occupation and medical radiation exposure had a wide range of agreement (kappa: 0.05-0.95), possibly owing to temporal variability during employment. Regarding validity, responses to the question about the first year of employment had an excellent agreement with the national registry (intraclass correlation coefficient = 0.9); however, responses on cancer history had a wide range of agreement (kappa: 0.22-0.85). Conclusion: Although the reliability and validity of the questionnaire were not distinguished by demographic characteristics, they tended to be low among participants whose occupational radiation exposure was minimal. Overall, the information collected can be reliable for epidemiological studies; however, caution must be exercised when using information such as medical exposure and work practices, which are prone to temporal variability.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.41-44
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• 2010

Purpose: Along with recent advances in PET/CT instrumentation and imaging technology, the number of patients has also been steadily increasing. This resulted in the increased radiation exposure to radiation workers in PET/CT rooms. In this study, we installed a radiation shield and investigated whether it could reduce radiation exposure to the workers and thus enhance job satisfaction. Materials and Methods: A radiation shield is composed of 5 cm thick lead and has a structure in which a radiation worker sits and watches a patient through lead glass while injecting radiopharmaceutical to the patient. Quarterly absorbed dose of radiation workers was measured using thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLD) and the results were compared for six months each before and after installation of the radiation shield. Exposure dose was also measured using a pocket dosimeter placed at the same location in the front and the back of the radiation shield. In addition, frequency of use of the shield and job satisfaction of radiation workers were investigated using a survey. Results: Quarterly absorbed dose of radiation workers was 2.70 mSv on average before installation of new radiation shield, whereas that dropped to 2.13 mSv after installation of radiation shield, reducing radiation exposure dose by 21%. Exposure dose on the front side of the shield was 61.2 R, whereas that on the back side of shield was 2.8 R. According to the survey, 85% of workers used the shield and were satisfied with the outcome: each radiation worker made injections to patients average of 6.5 times/day and preferred sitting to standing while injecting radiopharmaceutical to patients. Conclusion: Use of radiation shield reduced the exposure dose of radiation workers, which is the ultimate goal of radiation protection to minimize radiation exposure and is an appropriate method for the improvement of hospital working environment. Furthermore, we found that use of radiation shield not only relieves physical and psychological burden of radiation workers but also enhances job satisfaction. This result indicates that use of radiation shield is important for improvement of the radiation workers' job environment in terms of radiation protection.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.55-61
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• 2020

The various types of radiation-generator devices have been used in animal hospitals, and the safety for radiation workers is becoming important in Korea. This study investigated and analyzed the radiation safety management for diagnostic radiation-generator devices and radiation workers of animal hospital. The number of radiation-generator devices and radiation workers of animal hospital increased from 2,138 to 2,972 and from 2,644 and 5,733 for six years. The number of general X-ray, CT, C-arm, portable and dental X-ray in 2019 were 2,204, 58, 67, 770, and 14. The number of veterinarian, veterinary nurse, veterinary assistant, and others in 2019 were 4,236, 1,080, 404, and 13. The average exposure dose of radiation workers in 2018 were 0.21mSv in surface dose, 0.18mSv in depth doses. This study is expected to be the basic data for the safety management of radiation-generating devices and radiation workers in animal hospital.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2020

This study investigated the effectiveness of radiation safety rules in animal hospital and the awareness and behavior of veterinary radiation workers. With the questionnaires, the data was collected from randomly selected veterinarians in animal hospitals and animal medical imaging centers. Collected data were about radiation device, shielding device, regulations, safety management, education, knowledge, behavior and awareness. Frequency, correlation and multiple regression analysis were performed. The medical devices related with radiation in animal hospital were X-ray (59%), CT (15%), fluoroscopy (12%), mobile X-ray (12%) and others (2%). The number of people using radiation shielding device is high. The answers were low on knowing radiation related regulation and receiving radiation protection education. The group with higher knowledge and awareness shows positive correlation with safety behavior. The increase of use of the radiation related medical devices in veterinary hospital causes the increase of radiation exposure risk. This study suggests that radiation safety management system and policies need to be developed to protect radiation workers and give them correct information and consciousness.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.222-228
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• 2017

Background: On June 18, 2017, Korea's first commercial nuclear reactor, the Kori Nuclear Power Plant No. 1, was permanently suspended, and the capacity of nuclear power generation facilities will be adjusted according to the governments denuclearization policy. In these circumstances, it is necessary to assess the quality of radiation safety management in nuclear power plants in Korea by evaluating the radiation dose associated with them. Materials and Methods: The average annual radiation dose per unit, the annual radiation dose per person, and the annual dose distribution were analyzed using the radiation dose database of nuclear reactors for the last 5 years. The results of our analysis were compared to the specifications of the Nuclear Safety Act and Medical Law in Korea. Results and Discussion: The annual average per unit radiation dose of global major nuclear power generation was 720 man-mSv, while that of Korea's nuclear power plants was 374 manmSv. No workers exceeded 50 mSv per year or 100 mSv in 5 years. The individual radiation dose according to occupational exposure was 0.59 mSv for nuclear workers, 1.77 mSv for non-destructive workers, and 0.8 mSv for diagnostic radiologists. Conclusion: The radiation safety management of nuclear power plants in Korea has achieved the best outcomes worldwide, which is considered to be the result of the as-low-as-reasonably-achievable (ALARA) approach and strict radiation safety management. Moreover, the occupational exposures were also very low.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.165-173
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• 2000

Objectives : To assess the availability of the glycophorin A (GPA) assay to detect the biological effect of ionizing radiation in workers exposed to low-doses of radiation. Methods : Information on confounding factors, such as age and cigarette smoking was obtained on 144 nuclear power plant workers and 32 hospital workers, by a self-administered questionnaire. Information on physical exposure levels was obtained from the registries of radiation exposure monitoring and control at each facility. The GPA mutant assay was performed using the BR6 method with modification by using a FACScan flow cytometer. Results : As confounders, age and cigarette smoking habits showed increasing trends with GPA variants, but these were of no statistical significance. Hospital workers showed a higher frequency of the GPA variant than nuclear power plant workers in terms of the NO variant. Significant dose-response relationships were obtained from in simple and multiple linear regression models. The slope of the regression equation for nuclear power plant workers was much smaller than that of hospital workers. These findings suggest that there may be apparent dose-rate effects. Conclusion : In population exposed to chronic low-dose radiation, the GPA assay has a potential to be used as an effective biologic marker for assessing the bone marrow cumulative exposure dose.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.90-101
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• 2000

This study is being carried out, in two different random sample groups, between 20 men who were radiation exposed workers in the two general hospitals located in "T" city as a experimental group and 20 healthy men who were non-radiation exposed workers as a control group. The occurring frequency of the sister chromatid exchange as a biological dosemeter of radiation were studied. And the age, duration of employment and smoking were used as variable for the experiment. The results are as follows : The frequency of SCE were noticed respectively by each variable : 1) by age as a variable, the frequency were increased notably in radiation exposed workers group rather than a control group(p<0.05). 2) by duration of employment, the difference of the frequency were not recognised significantly in statistical among radiation exposed workers. 3) in smoker the frequency were increased notably in a radiation exposed workers than a control groups(p<0.05). Taking into consideration the above results, the age and smoking could affect the frequency of SCE, however, the size of sample were too small to generalize. Therefore, the following suggestions are recommended to get more accurate result. 1) In order to clarify the correlation in a smoking as variable, finding the volume of smoking and its related factor are necessarily required. 2) In order to confirm the correlation in each variable, adopting of a bigger-sized sample are needed and the study itself also be carried out repeatedly.