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Exposure to ionizing radiation has potential for acute and chronic health effects. Within the general public of the United States, there may be a discrepancy between perceived and actual health risks. In conjunction with the Vermont Department of Health, a survey designed to assess public perception and knowledge of ionizing radiation was administe...
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... However, radiographers need to carry out radiation protection efforts properly and correctly because there are differences between theory and practical application in hospitals regarding the implementation of radiation safety. Therefore, the role of educational institutions has a responsibility to implement basic radiation protection to create radiographers who prioritise radiation safety [12]. ...
Aims: Empowering radiation workers with enhanced awareness and knowledge to effectively
manage and minimise the risk of radiation exposure. The aim was to determine the level of awareness and knowledge of radiographers about aprons as personal protective equipment from radiation exposure during radiographic examinations.
Methodology: The research study employed a research method that involved 26 respondents who were radiographers. The objective of the study was to assess the level of awareness and knowledge regarding the apron. This assessment was done by analysing the results of both pre-test and post-test examinations, then statistical analysis was carried out
using a paired sample t-test to determine the increase in awareness and knowledge after
providing learning and practical materials with a p-value < 0.05.
Results: The research results showed that the awareness and knowledge of aprons had an
average pre-test percentage score of 50% before providing material and practice on aprons, whereas after providing material and practice on aprons, the average post-test percentage
value increased by 95%. Furthermore, the results of the paired sample t-test showed that there was an increase in radiographers' awareness and knowledge about aprons with a p-value <0.001. Conclusion: Assessing the awareness and knowledge of radiographers through the distribution of questionnaires is an initial means of identifying areas for improvement within the radiology department. This allows for the implementation of training programs or courses aimed at enhancing awareness and understanding of aprons and the significance of radiation protection in the field of diagnostic radiology
... Therefore, healthcare professionals engaged in medical imaging services, such as physicians, radiographers, and radiologists, should possess sound knowledge, adhere to best practices, and maintain a responsible attitude to inform patients about the benefits and risks of radiation. This is because the public tends not to be concerned about ionizing radiation from medical procedures, mainly due to their confidence in doctors and the thorough training doctors receive in radiation safety 16 . ...
Lack of awareness of radiation exposure during pregnancy in Malaysia can lead to a higher possibility of rejection from pregnant women to undergo an examination using ionizing radiation. This study aims to assess the general knowledge and attitude regarding radiation hazards on pregnant women among students at Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA). A cross-sectional study was conducted among non-healthcare students in UniSZA. A questionnaire was distributed online using Google Form to assess knowledge and attitude of radiation hazards on pregnant women. Descriptive statistics and an Independent T-test were used to determine the knowledge and attitude of the respondents. A total of 120 students have participated in this study. Equal sample sizes are obtained with 60 male students and 60 female students. The total mean knowledge and attitude score for all students is 1.31 and 4.13 respectively. The mean knowledge of female students (M=24.27) (P < .05) was higher compared to male students (M=20.20) (P < .05). Mean attitude of female students (M=17.40) (P < .05) was higher compared to male students (M=15.65) (P < .05). Female students have higher knowledge and attitude towards radiation hazards on pregnancy compared to male students. Lack of knowledge and attitude on radiation hazards in pregnancy can give serious effects in the future. Continuous awareness campaigns on the benefits and risks of radiation must be held through various platforms to educate people regarding the radiation hazards on pregnant women.
... According to Dr. Evans from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, "Only one-third of individuals who received a medical imaging test in the past year were educated by their healthcare professional about the risks of these tests" [21][22][23]. ...
... Many studies document: (1) peoples' concerns and misperceptions surrounding sources and risks of low dose radiation (LDR) (defined as below 100 mSv of ionizing radiation) [11,12,21,22,24,25]; (2) peoples' concerns post-accident to LDR after accidents such as Fukushima or Chernobyl [26]; (3) peoples' concerns surrounding nuclear energy in relation to accidents and potential exposure to high dose radiation [7]. While there are studies of people's perceptions of risks of nuclear energy in relation to climate change [27][28][29], exploring differences in expert and the general public's risk perceptions in relation to nuclear energy [30,31] and LDR [10,25], the authors found it very difficult to get studies linking people and experts' risk perceptions surrounding LDR and nuclear energy together. ...
... While there are studies of people's perceptions of risks of nuclear energy in relation to climate change [27][28][29], exploring differences in expert and the general public's risk perceptions in relation to nuclear energy [30,31] and LDR [10,25], the authors found it very difficult to get studies linking people and experts' risk perceptions surrounding LDR and nuclear energy together. There is one study that asked about risk perceptions in Vermont to LDR, including those from a nuclear power plant, but not in relation to the acceptability of nuclear power production [21]. Another study run in Europe in 2017 among participants that had a professional connection to radiation protection or the use of radiation in medicine or industry found that people with a high level of scientific/technical knowledge trust the radiation protection industry, and they also expressed satisfaction with the information available on radiation risk [32]. ...
People’s affective response in relation to radiation is important in their risk perceptions of low-dose radiation (LDR), medical interventions involving LDR, and acceptance of nuclear power production. Risk perception studies generally relate to the health field of LDR or nuclear power. This study combines risk perceptions and acceptance of both. While acceptance by those with an understanding of radiation is demonstrated in focus groups, survey results disproved this correlation. Emotional response to the word radiation together with greater perceptions of risk to X-rays, were predictors of acceptance of nuclear power production.
... This result indicated that Taiwanese people lack knowledge in medical radiation application, so it was necessary to promote the correct radiation protection concept. The study in Vermont, USA stated that even though medical imaging was the primary source of ionization radiation, 80% of the population still underestimated the radiation exposure contribution by medical imaging [22]. ...
(1) Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiation awareness level of the public in Taiwan. (2) Methods: This study designed an online survey form to investigate the radiation awareness level with six topics: basic knowledge of radiation, environmental radiation, medical radiation, radiation protection, and university/corporate social responsibility. The score of respondents were converted into knowledge and responsibility indexes for the quantitative evaluation. Logistic regression was used to assess the correlation between the knowledge index and individual factors. Paired t-test was used to assess the significant difference in knowledge index between pre-training and post-training. (3) Results: The knowledge index of each job category reflected the proportion of radiation awareness of the job. The logistic regression result indicated that radiation-related people could get higher knowledge index. The paired t-test indicated that the knowledge index before and after class had significant differences in all question topics. (4) Conclusions: The public’s awareness of medical radiation was the topic that needed to be strengthened the most—the responses with high knowledge index significantly correlated with their experience in radiation education training or radiation-related jobs. It significantly increased the knowledge index of radiation if the public received radiation education training.
... Within the survey studies, the sample size varied between a maximum of 6653 [77] persons involved and a minimum of 35 [71]. The studies used quantitative [30,[49][50][51][52]54,57,60,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71]74,75,[77][78][79][80][81][82], qualitative [56,72,83], and mixed quantitative and qualitative methodologies [62,73,84,85], and some were aimed at evaluating an intervention [52,53] or a risk communication tool [63,86]. The qualitative method can enable researchers to go deeper into understanding the individual and collective factors influencing risk perception and capture subjective and objective aspects of radon risk perception, communication, and willingness to address the problem. ...
... The population included was an interesting element to observe. Twenty articles reported data on the general population [30,49,52,[57][58][59][61][62][63]65,66,70,71,[75][76][77][78]80,81,84], in two cases as part of a radon testing program [53,78], in one case among people interested in testing [70], in one case together with a group of experts [79], and in one case with a group of home buyers [56]. Ownership was an important element, as radon risk remediation actions should be the direct responsibility of the owners, and in some countries, information on the presence of radon in the home was part of the requirements for marketing houses [49]. ...
... In detail, all the selected studies assessed the knowledge about radon risk; five of them explored knowledge only [59,61,62,69,87]; 11 added risk perception [51,54,55,58,60,64,66,68,74,79,80]; 11 further investigated the willingness to make radon measurements in one's home [30,49,50,53,67,76,77,81,82,84,86]; 13 research papers examined the full cycle of prevention, including risk mitigation actions [52,56,57,63,65,[70][71][72][73]75,78,83,85]. ...
Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after cigarette smoking, and research on individual risk perception of radon is crucial to prevent its health effects. In this work, we aimed to systematically review the scientific literature that has analyzed radon risk perception, awareness, and knowledge to provide insight on communication actions. For this purpose, following the PRISMA 2020 statement, we searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science, focusing on articles published since 2010. After the screening process, we included 40 articles, of which 5 explored only knowledge, 11 added risk perception, 11 further investigated the willingness to make radon measurements, and 13 examined the full cycle of prevention, including risk mitigation actions. Many articles performed a quantitative assessment of the relationship between knowledge/awareness/perception and actions such as radon testing and remediation, showing positive associations and providing interesting elements for evaluating interventions. Furthermore, citizen science actions described by some studies could be crucial for enhancing community self-sufficiency, responsibility, and the quality of preventive actions. To conclude, risk communication can play a key role in making risk prevention possible by reducing exposure, and a multidisciplinary approach, involving constant collaboration with different experts, is essential.
... 7 Studies have concluded that most of the public is not concerned about ionizing radiation from radiological procedures because of trust in doctors and their broad training in radiation protection. 8 Patient awareness and knowledge of ionizing radiation exposure in recent studies report a lack of knowledge in the Indian population. 9,10 There are hardly any studies in India that assess the knowledge of pregnant women regarding radiation exposure and its ill effects on the fetus. ...
Background: Although radiation has become an integral part of modern medicine, as both a diagnostic and a therapeutic tool, the emphasis on the teratogenic effects of radiation in pregnancy cannot be belittled.Methods: A total of 404 pregnant women at ESIC Model hospital, Rajajinagar, Bengaluru were enrolled over a period of 3 months (December 2020 to February 2021) in the interventional study. Statistical analysis was done by SPSS version 23 package.Results: On analyzing the data obtained in the study, it was noted that most patients in the study were aged 25-30 years 175 (43.32%), belonged to the upper-lower class (241 (59.65%), were multiparous 216 (53.46%), and in their third trimester 192 (47.52%). It was seen that 133 (32.92%) women had some knowledge about the ill effects of radiation during pregnancy and 110 (27.33%) were educated about the same during their antenatal visits. While only 96 (29.54%) of 325 women below 30 had some familiarity with the same, this proportion significantly increased (p<0.05) to 39 (46.84%) of 79 in those above 30. The study showed no significant difference (p>0.05) in insight among women based on socioeconomic levels, parity, or week of gestation. A short session was conducted to educate women about different imaging modalities, the benefits of ultrasonography, and the risk of radiation exposure during pregnancy. A post-education survey revealed a significant increase (p<0.0001) in awareness among pregnant women.Conclusions: This study reiterates the importance of health education among pregnant women to ensure adequate protection from the teratogenic effects of radiation exposure.
... Although the respondents had a level of high education that was more than the average, the study showed many misconceptions about actual risks of exposure to ionizing radiation, particularly in the case of medical imaging tests. Consequently, health care professional will have a deep and positive impact on the public's understanding of ionizing radiation (Evans et al, 2015). ...
... Studies have shown that there is poor knowledge of radiation protection in the environment by the public; [12][13][14] this was also the case in a short interview with the petrol attendants in the studied areas in Aniocha South Local Government Area (LGA), who barely have radiation protection awareness. Educational background may be another factor that may limit their knowledge, although this fact has not been investigated. ...
Monitoring the background levels from petroleum products is essential because of the everyday use and the increasing number of fuel, diesel, kerosene, and gas stations in Delta State, Nigeria. The study aims to determine the background ionizing radiation (BIR) in milli-Roentgen per hour (mR/h), absorbed dose rate (ADR) (nGy/h), and annual effective dose rate (AED) (mSv/year) in selected fuel, diesel, kerosene, and cooking gas-dispensing stations in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State. The study was carried out using a calibrated Geiger Muller detector (Radiation Alert Inspector) in count per minute mode for point measurements and a geographical positioning system for determining the longitude and latitude of each point where measurements were taken from. The mean outdoor BIR, ADR, and AED were 0.011 ± 0.002 mR/h, 91.6 ± 19.5 nGy/h, and 0.11 ± 0.02 mSv/year, respectively, with 84% of the BIR below the world average. The mean BIR was below the world average while the ADR and AED were above it. Kerosene stations had the highest BIR. The outdoor measurements from this study were comparable to similar articles with slight variation. The study shows that the attendant and customers were safe in the areas where this study was conducted.
... Studies have indicated that medical students are unaware of their exposure to ionizing radiation from medical procedures due to a widespread belief that medical staff have received extensive training in radiation principles and are likely to reduce the risk [10][11][12][13]. On the contrary, the medical staff may not be as concerned as the medical students believe. ...
... However, a study conducted in Italy found a high-level of awareness among physicians of the non-ionized radiation detected through MRI and therefore emphasized that physicians should adopt protective training courses to increase their knowledge and awareness [18]. This supports the outcomes of other previous studies and indicates a continued lack of understanding among the non-medical residents [11,19]. ...
The exposure of patients to radiation has been discussed for a long time in medical studies. The exposures are due to multiple factors and can result in the development of cancer. This study aims to assess and determine the level of knowledge and awareness of the risk of radiation among the medical staff and students in Madinah, Saudi Arabia. Medical staff and students (n = 405) from different colleges affiliated with Taibah University, completed a questionnaire. The participants responded to the radiation risks related to the different radiation doses and imaging modalities. The medical staff was aware of the risks of ionizing radiation. The average natural background radiation in mSv according to both the medical staff and students was 20-30 mSv. An insignificant difference exists between the information and the awareness levels of both the male and female participants (P = 0.061). An insignificant difference exists between the risks of radiation and the population at risk (P = 0.188). The participants were of the view that the parents of pediatric patients should be given appropriate education about radiation risks (P = 0.035). The medical students at Taibah University had insufficient and poor knowledge about the risks associated with radiation doses, risks which need urgent attention for pediatric and pregnant patients. The findings can be included as a preamble for designing awareness campaigns and a curriculum for the medical staff.
... Radioactivity is a natural phenomenon and source of radiation in the environment. However, radiation risks to the public and environment that arise from these radioactivity existences need to be assessed and controlled (3). To ensure the protection of humans and the environment from harmful effects of ionizing radiation, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) established fundamental safety principles, requirements, and measures to control radiation exposure. ...
Historically BATAN was established to investigate the negative impacts of nuclear explosions previously conducted in the Pacific area. However, this governmental institute is presently tasked to carry out research and development as well as services in the field of radiation safety and metrology. Therefore, this study aim to determine the activities carried out by BATAN in assessing the safety of workers and the environment. For instance, a standard source of dosimetry laboratory (SSDL) is used in calibration services to successfully support radiotherapy, with the highest achievement in the Designated Institute (DI) for Ionizing Radiation. The health research covers the application of gamma rays to create malaria vaccine, diagnose metabolic diseases with nuclear medicine techniques, and microdosimetry through radiodiagnostic assessment. This study also determined the effective dose and epidemiological study of radioecology and radiation biology in Mamuju (HBRA), which provides a unique opportunity to examine the health effects of chronic low-level radiation exposure to humans. Furthermore, the authors collaborated with Hirosaki University to obtain valuable information on the essential need to assess the health and physical status as well as cytogenetic and deoxynucleotide acid (DNA) damages in the lymphocytes of local populations. Dosimetry study was conducted by direct measurement in the field area by analyzing external radiation exposure of indoor and outdoor gamma dose rate. The internal radiation assessment was conducted by taking urine and inhaled air (radon) from the residents. Studies through the cytogenetic
response supported by γ-H2AX, G0, and G2 micronucleus assays and TP53 showed no impacts on the natural radiation with significant differences compared to the control. Marine radioecology studies and radionuclides monitoring throughout the Indonesian archipelago showed no negative impacts as well. Nuclear emergency practice needs to be routinely conducted in the Center for strengthening safety and security cultures.
