Sonographers’ Awareness of Chaperone Policy and Impact of Chaperone Use on Transvaginal Sonography in Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54450/saradio.2022.60.2.699Keywords:
sonography, transvaginal sonography, chaperone use, the impact of chaperone on service deliveryAbstract
Background: Chaperone use during transvaginal sonography (TVS) is strongly recommended. Sonographers’ awareness of this recommendation, their attitude to chaperone use, and the impact of chaperone use on service delivery have not been assessed in Lagos Nigeria.
Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was distributed to 100 sonographers. Non-probability convenience sampling was used. Simple proportion, mean and standard deviation were calculated and used to determine awareness and frequency of chaperone use. Regression analysis was used to determine the relationship between chaperone use and improved service delivery; one-way ANOVA was used to test null hypotheses that said that sex and age had no significant impact on the use of chaperones among sonographers.
Results: The majority (74%) of the participants were men. Most (69%) of the participants ‘always’ use chaperones. The computed mean and standard deviation (ᶍ = 3.9; σ = 1.7, respectively) showed that ‘sonographer protection’ was rated the most critical role of a chaperone. More than half (57%) of the participants agreed that counselling reduces rejection of TVS. There was significant positive correlation between chaperone use and acceptance of TVS (regression coefficient = 0.9335;
p = 0.0004). ANOVA F-test value of 4.9349 (p = 0.0292) and F-test value = 4.0821; p = 0.0096 indicate that both gender and age positively impact chaperone use.
Conclusion: Most of the participants in Lagos state were aware of the recommendation that a chaperone should be used. Their attitude to chaperone use during TVS, however, seemed to be somewhat casual. Fear of litigation was the major motivator for chaperone use. A chaperone’s presence during TVS positively impacted service delivery in Lagos state. Counselling is very useful in reducing the number of women who reject TVS. An association exists between sonographers’ gender and chaperone use, older male sonographers in the study tended to use chaperones more often.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright on all published material belongs to the Society of Radiographers of South Africa (SORSA).I hereby understand and declare that:
- All proprietary rights other than copyright are reserved to the authors, as well as the right to reproduce original figures and tables from this item in their future works, provided full credit is given to the original publication The South African Radiographer ISSN 0258 0241.
- In consideration of the reviewing and editing done by the editors of The South African Radiographer of the above named manuscript, the author/s hereby transfer, assign, or otherwise convey all copyright ownership world-wide, in all languages, to the Society of Radiographers of South Africa in the event that this manuscript is accepted for publication.
- If the manuscript has been commissioned by another person or organisation, or if it has been written as part of the duties of an employee, that full authorization has been given by the representative of the commissioning organisation or employer to be published in the The South African Radiographer.
