Quality assurance in radiation therapy: clinical aspects. [Latin America]

Conference · Fri Jun 01 04:00:00 EDT 1984 · Int. J. Radiat. Oncol., Biol. Phys.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6602160

Souhami, L

A survey was conducted in Latin America to evaluate the clinical aspects of quality assurance in radiotherapy. A questionnaire was prepared and sent to 46 institutions. Twenty-seven centers (58.5%), from nine countries, answered the questionnaire. The study was divided into three topics: a) patient-related statistics; b) staffing and education; and c) equipment and facilities. Radiotherapy training programs are available in only 37% of the centers studied. A large number of megavoltage units are old, operating at a shorter than optimum distance with sources of very low activity. The number of high energy linear accelerators is unsatisfactory. Problems in treatment planning facilities were also identified. Regionalization of radiation therapy services is recommended as a possible way to improve quality at a reasonable cost.

• Research Organization: Instituto Nacional de Cancer, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil
• OSTI ID: 6602160
• Report Number(s): CONF-8306232-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Int. J. Radiat. Oncol., Biol. Phys.; (United States) Journal Volume: 10
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

550603* -- Medicine-- External Radiation in Therapy-- (1980-)
62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE
ACCELERATORS
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
EQUIPMENT
IONIZING RADIATIONS
LATIN AMERICA
LINEAR ACCELERATORS
MEDICAL PERSONNEL
MEDICINE
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
PATIENTS
PERSONNEL
QUALITY ASSURANCE
RADIATIONS
RADIOLOGICAL PERSONNEL
RADIOLOGY
RADIOTHERAPY
THERAPY
TRAINING
X RADIATION
X-RAY EQUIPMENT