More to come: this ground-breaking study shows that non-physician Cath Lab employees, ACVP members, are more likely to experience work-related pain. Stay tuned by subscribing to the ACVP blog via email with the option on the side bar. We'll bring you more information about the study and new technologies that might help you avoid radiation and pain in the Cath Lab.

Results of a survey released in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology showed that non-physician Cath Lab employees reported higher levels of musculoskeletal pain.

According to the study conducted via the Mayo Clinic Survey Center, factors association with increased work-related pain included female gender (71% vs. 56%; p < 0.001), more time exposed to radiation (median 15 vs. 5 hr/week; p < 0.001), and wearing the lead apron more (median 4 vs. 1 hr/week; p < 0.001).

"A history of work-related musculoskeletal pain varied significantly by role in the laboratory, with the highest incidence reported by technicians (62%) and nurses (60%), followed by attending physicians (44%) and trainees (19%; p < 0.001)... In our study, technicians and nurses tended to be younger and were more likely to be female than attending physicians (p < 0.01). However, similar findings were present when restricting the analysis by sex with pain reported in 63% of male nurses, 53% of male technicians, and 44% of male attending physicians, compared with 59% of female nurses, 65% of female technicians, and 41% of female attending physicians (p < 0.001)."

This study marks the "first large, multi-center case-control study to evaluate the occupational hazards of participatiting in procedures involving radiation and the first study to include not only physicians, but also technicians, nursing staff, and trainees," write the authors.

It's likely that MORE THAN HALF of ACVP members working with procedures involving radiation have experienced a history of work-related pain. We want to be a force for changing these statistics. We're going to bring you more special reports about this issue and new tech that will help Cath Lab technicians avoid radiation and work-related pain in the lab.

Have you had a history of work-related pain? Tell us about it in the comments below. And stay tuned by subscribing via the option on the sidebar.