Assessment of medical students' knowledge regarding radiation associated risk and its protection: finding from a cross-sectional study

Objective The current study assessed the knowledge of the medical students regarding the nature of radiation, associated risks, and protective measures.Method A cross-sectional study was conducted among international students enrolled in different medical colleges/universities in Xian, PR China. A self-developed and self-reported questionnaire was used for the current study. The descriptive statistics was carried out to summarize the finding of the study. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were conducted to assess the association of the demographics with knowledge level.Results A total of 796 students responded among 980. Most of the participants fell in the age range of 20-25 years (42.6%), being male (67.1%) and having bachelor's education (56.7%). Participants with previous experience was 58.7%. The age group of 20-25 years (p < 0.001), being male (p < 0.001), having bachelor education (p < 0.001), and previous experience (p = 0.009) was significantly associated with moderate to good knowledge. The overall knowledge about the nature of radiation (96%) and associated risk (82%) was good, but regarding protection, 59% of the participants showed good knowledge.Conclusion Most of the participants showed satisfactory result. However, the knowledge regarding protection measures was poor in almost half of the population.

Automated summary

This study assessed the knowledge of medical students regarding radiation, associated risks, and protective measures. The majority of participants showed good knowledge about the nature of radiation and associated risks, but had lower knowledge about protective measures.