Radiation Risk Perception of the CoMedical Students Sumi

Radiation Risk Perception of the Co-Medical Students Sumi 1 YOKOYAMA * and Naoki KODAIRA 1 1 School of Health Sciences, Fujita Health University Faculty of Medical Technology, 1 -98 Dengakubo, Kutsukake-cho, Toyoake, Aichi 470 -1192, Japan, *e-mail : sumi 0704@fujita-hu. ac. jp Abstract The radiation risk perception of co-medical students, particularly university students majoring in medical technology, was examined as part of basic study on radiation risk communication. Twenty-five items concerning radiation and non-radiation activities were selected and a questionnaire comprising these items was formulated. The feelings of dread and unknown were evaluated on seven-point scale. Results were obtained through factor analysis. As the results of the factor analysis, the notions of risk for medical practice and transportation of the students in the first and fourth years were different. 1. Introduction 2. Analysis Methods After the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident, the effects of radiation on health were required to be explained to many peoples. Radiological technologists are familiar to the public and are a source of knowledge not only on radiological treatment but also on radiation protection and the effect of radiation on health. Thus, they are the appropriate people to impart information on radiation risk. As part of basic study on risk communication, in this study, a questionnaire was administered university students majoring in radiatiological technology and factor analysis was conducted to determine their notions of radiation risk. The composition of students who participated in the questionnaire survey is shown in Table 1. The responses, shown in Table 2, to nine questions pertaining to each item were subjected to factor analysis. The analysis showed that the risk perception of the activities was indicated by two factors (dread and unknown) evaluated on sevenpoint scale. As shown in Table 3, nine radiation and sixteen nonradiation related activities were chosen from among medical practices, energy-related items, conveyances , food, natural disasters etc. Table 3 Investigated items Table 2 List of responses for the factor analysis Table 1 Investigated number of students Date of survey Apr-Jun 2010 Apr-Oct 2011 year No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Number of students Total (Meal and Female) 1 st 46 (M: 27, F: 19) 3 rd 54 (M: 32, F: 22) 1 st 55 (M: 32, F: 23) 3 rd 54 (M: 32, F: 22) 4 th 47 (M: 26, F: 21) Low High Voluntary Involuntary Delay-Effect Acute-Effect Unknown Known Scientifically Unknown Scientifically Known Controllable Uncontrollable New Old Not catastrophic Catastrophic Not dreadful Dreadful Not fatal Fatal 3. Results and Discussion Unknown High ◆ 1 st (2011) Ultrasonic CT Wind Power Nuclear Power X-ray RI Therapy CT Anticancer agent Ultrasonic X-ray Drinking Alcohol Ⅳ Driving a car Dread Nucl. Weapon Driving Car Smoking Earthquake Ⅱ Figure 1 Risk perception determined by the factor analysis. Items related to medical practice are located in Section Ⅲ. The risk perception with regard to medical practices of fourth-year students is lower than that of first-year students. a) First -year students b) Fourth-year students Others 16. 4% Serious damage 47. 3% Addictive 7. 1% Uselessness 8. 2% Figure 2 Risk perceptions with regard to CT and NPP determined by the questionnaire results. The risk perception with regard to NPP that are determined by the surveys conducted in 2010 and 2011 (before /after the 1 F NPP accident) were the same. 4. Conclusions Figure 3 High-risk activities selected by the students (2011). Many deaths 25. 5% Dread High Airplane Well-known 5. 5% Unknown Low Familiar 5. 5% Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) ◆ 4 th (2011) Ⅰ RI Therapy Airplane Non-Radiation Related Activity (16 items) CT Examination Ⅲ Low Radiation Related Activity (9 items) Activities X-ray examination, CT examination, RI examination, Radiation therapy, Food irradiation , Care (RI therapy patient), Nuclear power plant, Living near the NPP, Nuclear weapon; Ultrasonography, MRI, Anticancer agent, Influenza, Drugs (Cannabis), Smoking, Drinking alcohol, Ultraviolet rays, Car, Airplane, Train, Wind power plant, Thermal power plant, Food additives, Genetic recombination food, Earthquakes Serious damage 47. 3% Many deaths 10. 6% Unnecessary 8. 2% Unpredicatable Unavoidable 9. 4% Figure 4 Reasons for high-risk activities (2011). The questionnaire survey pertained to the risk involved in radiation and non-radiation activities, and it was administered to university students majoring in radiobiological technology in 2010 and 2011. Among fourth-year students, the scale of “unknown” related to medical practices was estimated to be low regardless of whether the activities were radiation or non-radiation ones. The differences between the responses of the first- and fourth-year students are attributed to the differences in the amounts of medical knowledge and experience between the two groups. The risk perception of the first- and fourth-year students with regarded to the nuclear plant was not different. Furthermore, their risk perception before and after the 1 F NPP accident remained the same. Nuclear weapons, earthquakes, drugs, nuclear power plants and smoking were selected as high-risk items. For the first- and fourthyear students, the reasons included “serious damage“ and “many deaths”. The responses of the fourth-year students varied greatly.