A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY OF QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) FOR AN EXTERNAL RADIOTHERAPY FACILITY IN JAPAN
QA is not satisfactory at most of Japanese radiotherapy facilities, according to a nationwide survey performed to investigate quality assurance (QA) for photon external radiotherapy.
Abstract
A nationwide survey was performed to investigate quality assurance (QA) for photon external radiotherapy. It was carried out by mailing questionnaires to 737 radiotherapy facilities. Six hundred and twenty eight questionnaires were returned, and 603 answers (including 38 answers from 60Co facilities) were available for analysis. At 565 X-ray treatment facilities, only 68 facilities (12%) treated more than 40 patients per day. The 356 facilities (63%) treated less than 20 patients per day. In this survey we examined following itemes: 1) number of radiation oncologists and radiotherapy technologists (RTT) each facility, 2) individuals responsible for QA, 3) ratio of conducting periodic check for basic QA items, and 4) Ratio of verifying monitor unit (MU) calculation. This survey shows that QA is not satisfactory at most of Japanese radiotherapy facilities.