Research interest, experience and confidence of allied health professionals working in medical imaging: a cross-sectional survey

Introduction: There is growing interest in developing research culture and opportunities for allied health professionals working in medical imaging. However, little attention has been given to identifying the research interest and needs of this group relative to the other allied health professions. We aimed to measure self-reported research participation, interest, experience and confidence of allied health professionals working in medical imaging and compare the findings to clinicians working in allied health therapies. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of allied health professionals from medical imaging (radiographers, sonographers and nuclear medicine technologists) was conducted. The primary outcome, the Research Spider survey, measures 10 domains of research interest/experience/confidence on a 5-point Likert scale. Results were compared to allied health therapy data. Results: Responses were received by 82 medical imaging allied health professionals (65% response rate). Overall, medical imaging professionals rated themselves as having ‘some interest’ and ‘little experience or confidence’ in research. There was no difference in interest, experience and confidence among different imaging professions (interest P = 0.099, experience P = 0.380, confidence P = 0.212) or allied health therapists (interest P = 0.137, experience P = 0.363, confidence P = 0.791). Participants reported greatest interest in finding and reviewing literature and lowest interest in applying for funding. Conclusion: There are strong similarities between medical imaging allied health professionals and allied health therapy professionals. Therefore, strategies used to promote research culture in allied health therapy professions could be leveraged to provide opportunities for medical imaging allied health professionals.