Preparedness of radioloy departments against COVID-19: an online survey

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the preparedness of the radiologists and their departments against COVID-19 and the impact of institution type, training, and written guidelines \nMethodoloy: We conducted this survey by sending an online questionnaire to practicing radiologists in April 2020. The questionnaire included queries about institution (type, training status, written guidelines) and the preparedness against COVID-19. The groups sorted by institution were compared for preparedness i.e. appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), equipment decontamination protocol, and infection prevention measures (IPM) for public (screening, masks, social distancing, and hand sanitizers). \nResults: We received 100 responses out of which 72 were from females. The mean age of the respondents was 37.28.2 years. Government institutes (68) did not differ from private institutes (32) except in screening at the entrance of the institute [7/68 (10.2) vs. 9/32 (28.1), p-value: 0.039], respectively. Comparison of training institutes (32) with non-training institutes (68) revealed higher adherence of radiologists to the appropriate PPE [30/32 (93.7) vs. 44/68 (64), p-value: 0.001] and equipment surface decontamination [22/32 (68.7) vs. 18/68 (26.4), p-value: 0.029]; however, the difference between IPMs for public was not statistically significant. Institutions that provided written guidelines, achieved significant impact on masks (cloth/surgical) and social distancing for public, in addition to appropriate PPE by radiologists and surface decontamination of equipment. \nConclusion: Institutional training combined with written guidelines has significant impact on preparedness of radiologists and radiology departments against COVID-19.