Journal
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Volume 11, Issue 1, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PORTFOLIO
DOI: 10.1038/s41598-021-91479-7
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Alberta Real Estate Foundation
- Health Canada
- Robson DNA Science Centre Fund at the Charbonneau Cancer Institute
- Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
- Hopewell Residential Cancer Research Summer Studentship Award from the Alberta Cancer Foundation
- NSERC Canada Graduate Scholarship
- Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship
- Achievers in Medical Science Doctoral Scholarship
- Rejeanne Taylor Research Prize
- Canada Research Chairs program
- Canadian Cancer Society Alberta/NWT Division
- Alberta Cancer Foundation
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The study found that individuals react differently to information about radon's health effects and subsequent testing behaviors. Those who delayed radon testing were more likely to be male and involved in engineering, architecture, real estate, or physical science-related professions. Social pressure was not a major factor influencing radon testing, and individuals who were less concerned about radon health risks were typically older or male, while those who had negative emotional responses to awareness information were often younger individuals, women, or parents.
Radioactive radon inhalation is a leading cause of lung cancer and underlies an ongoing public health crisis. Radon exposure prevention strategies typically begin by informing populations about health effects, and their initial efficacy is measured by how well and how fast information convinces individuals to test properties. This communication process is rarely individualized, and there is little understanding if messages impact diverse demographics equally. Here, we explored how 2,390 people interested in radon testing differed in their reaction to radon's public health information and their subsequent decision to test. Only 20% were prompted to radon test after 1 encounter with awareness information, while 65% required 2-5 encounters over several months, and 15% needed 6 to > 10 encounters over many years. People who most delayed testing were more likely to be men or involved in engineering, architecture, real estate and/or physical science-related professions. Social pressures were not a major factor influencing radon testing. People who were the least worried about radon health risks were older and/or men, while negative emotional responses to awareness information were reported more by younger people, women and/or parents. This highlights the importance of developing targeted demographic messaging to create effective radon exposure prevention strategies.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available