Comparison of the prevalence of darkroom disease and related factors between radiotechnologists and nurses in selected hospitals of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in year 2016

BACKGROUND: Radiotechnologists are always in contact with chemicals during the process of confirmation and appearance of radiographs. This study evaluated the prevalence of darkroom disease among the radiotechnologists and nurses working in radiology centers of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Iran. METHODS: This case-control study was conducted between two groups of radiotechnologists and nurses from selected hospitals of Guilan University of Medical Sciences, in year 2016, including 323 radiotechnologists (exposure group = 140 people) and nurses (control group = 183 people) working in educational therapy centers. The participants were selected through convenience sampling method. Total information on darkroom disease was collected using the standard Damases questionnaire, and analyzed using SPSS software at the significance level of P < 0.050. RESULTS: The mean age of radiotechnologists was 34.01 ± 7.9, and the mean age of nurses was 32.33 ± 7.90 years. Symptoms of nausea (P = 0.001), runny nose (P = 0.001), oral ulcer (P = 0.020), burning mouth (P = 0.001), skin rash (P = 0.001), blurred vision (P = 0.002) night sweats (P = 0.001), chemical taste (P = 0.001), and dysuria (P = 0.001) were significantly more common in the radiotechnologists group. Regarding gender and symptoms of darkroom disease in each occupational group, nausea (P = 0.024) and runny nose (P = 0.001) among the radiotechnologists and chemical taste (P = 0.001) among the nurses, had significant relationship with being woman. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of darkroom disease was high among the radiotechnologists in Guilan Province, Iran. Therefore, it is recommended to improve the quality of services provided, as well as to promote the health and safety of radiology personnel through preparing and implementing modern digital equipment in radiology departments.