JOURNAL OF BASIC AND CLINICAL HEALTH SCIENCES, sa.6, ss.712-721, 2022 (ESCI)
Purpose: This study aimed to investigate radiology professionals’ response to the impact of COVID-19
on professional practice. In addition, the fear and anxiety levels experienced by this workforce during the
pandemic process were investigated.
Material and Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted. The questionnaire covered
information on demographic characteristics, the Coronavirus Overviews and Impacts, the Coronavirus
Anxiety Scale (CAS), and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. Logistic regression was used to model the
relationship between "CAS" and "Fear" scores and variables. Data collected was analysed using the
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (v.24).
Results: A total of 290 responses were received, comprising 21.7% radiologists and 78.3% technicians.
The key contributor factors to work-related stress were found to be the fear of COVID-19 infection, with
63.8%, the increase in workload, with 17.6% and inadequate personal protective equipment (PPE), with
11%. The percentages of anxiety were 75.6% for technician and 24.4% for radiologist. It was found that
there was a significant association between "CAS" score and the gender variable (p=0.030<0.05), and
similarly, between "Fear" score and gender (p-value=0.003) and age (p-value=0.080) variables. The
women are 2.205 times more likely to be anxious than men (p=0.033) and 2.106 times more likely to be
fear (p=0.003).
Conclusion: Almost half of the participants reported adequate PPE availability during the study period.
Despite this, most feared being infected with COVID-19. Therefore, it is important to provide timely and
adequate personnel training, adequate availability of PPE and regular psychosocial support for radiology
professinals, during future pandemics.