Radiation Therapy Physics Quality Assurance and Management Practices in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: An Initial Pilot Survey in Six Countries and Validation Through a Site Visit.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Our purpose was to assess physics quality assurance (QA) practices in less resourced radiation therapy (RT) centers to improve quality of care.

Methods and materials

A preliminary study was conducted in 2020 of 13 select RT centers in 6 countries, and in 2021, our team conducted onsite visits to all the RT centers in Ghana, one of the countries from the initial survey. The RT centers included 1 private and 2 public institutions (denoted as Public-1 and Public-2). Follow-up surveys were sent to 17 medical physicists from the site visit. Questions centered on the topics of equipment, institutional practice, physics quality assurance, management, and safety practices. Qualitative and descriptive methods were used for data analysis. Questions regarding operational challe

SUBMITTER: Yorke AA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10885564 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature