The Role Of Effective Patient Communication In Medical Imaging: Insights From Radiographers

Abstract

Background: Effective patient communication is a crucial responsibility of radiographers, as their adeptness in this aspect significantly enhances the diagnostic process, lowers expenses, heightens patient contentment, alleviates anxiety, and expedites the patient's recuperation process.

Objectives: This study sought to explore radiographers' perspectives on the significance of patient information across diverse domains of medical imaging. In this descriptive cross-sectional research, 112 out of 120 (93%) radiographers employed in western Iranian university hospitals participated through random sampling and voluntary means. Data was gathered via a researcher-designed questionnaire featuring 13 specific questions rated on a 5-point Likert scale. After ensuring content validity and test-retest reliability (0.74), data was collected and analyzed using SPSS software version 15.

Results: Most radiographers demonstrated a strong understanding of the importance of patient information in terms of pre-examination preparation (94.6%) and radiation safety (84.6%). In contrast, 58% of radiographers perceived informing patients about radiology equipment and examination procedures as less critical, while 86.6% believed that educating patients about various body positions was less important. The majority of radiographers felt a responsibility to inform patients about pre-examination preparation (80.4%), radiation protection (87.5%), and body positions (95.5%). However, 40.1% of radiographers believed that educating patients about radiology department equipment and examination procedures was primarily the responsibility of the doctor and required specialized knowledge.

Conclusions: Radiographers emphasized the significance of providing patients with information regarding pre-examination preparation and radiation protection. However, they believed that educating patients about the radiology equipment and examination procedure had no direct impact on the quality of the resulting images. Radiographers generally considered it to be the doctor's responsibility to inform patients about radiology equipment and examination procedures.