Footprints of patient-specific quality assurance in radiation oncology in India: A survey.

AIM: A survey was conducted across various institutes to assess the footprints of patient-specific quality assurance (PSQA) in radiation oncology practice in India.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

A multiple-choice pre-questionnaire was created to assess the practice of PSQA for intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). A Google Form was used to conduct the online survey. The medical physicists at different radiotherapy institutions with at least one functioning teletherapy machine received a Google Form via email/social media with a link to a Google Form survey. The survey URL was shared with medical physicists with the understanding that participation would be voluntary.

RESULTS

The present survey turnout was 63.5% and the leading respondents were from tier II cities with 43.5%. The 41.7% hospital was treating more than 750 cancer patients every year. The majority of hospitals (99.0%) have C-series linear accelerators (LINAC). Most commonly used photon energy for treatment was 6 MV (FF/FFF). The majority of users (94.44%) follow the gamma passing criteria of 3%/3 mm, and 91.6% users follow the gamma passing rate of >95%.

CONCLUSION

The survey provided significant information on the current PSQA methods, instruments, and techniques used by different hospitals practicing IMRT and VMAT techniques. There was variation in the practice of PSQA, the equipment used, their methodology, and the analysis followed. The most common PSQA analysis followed was ±3% for ion chamber measurements and 3% dose difference and 3 mm distance to agreement for gamma-analysis. Additionally, limited use of a heterogeneous phantom for PSQA was observed in clinical settings.