| ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to understand the current situation of RP-KAP and occupational stress of radiation workers,analyze the factors affecting radiation workers’RP-KAP and occupational stress,explore the relationship between RP-knowledge,RPattitude,RP-practice,and occupational stress,understand the present situation of radiation protection education,explore the influence of radiation protection education on RP-KAP and occupational stress,and put forward some improvement suggestions for strengthening the management of radiation hygiene.MethodsLiterature investigation and expert consultation were used to design a pretesting questionnaire on RP-KAP among radiation workers,and convenient sampling was used in the pretesting survey.According to the results of the pretesting survey and the feedback of the investigators,the pretesting questionnaire was modified to form a formal questionnaire on RP-KAP for radiation workers.The Core Occupational Stress Scale was used to investigate the current situation of radiation worker’s occupational stress.Cluster sampling was used for the survey among radiation workers in the medical field,while convenient sampling was used for the survey among radiation workers in the industrial field.The investigation followed the principle of voluntary participation and the respondents can withdraw from the investigation at any time.Literature investigation and expert consultation were used to analyze the current situation of radiation protection education in our country.SPSS 24,SAS studio online tools and GraphPad Prims 8 were used for data analysis.Mean,median,standard deviation,interquartile range and percentage were used to describe the data,while t-test,analysis of variance,chi-square test,Wilcoxon rank-sum test,Kruskal-Wallis test and other methods were used for statistical analysis.Results1.Reliability and validity of the questionnaire(1)RP-knowledge According to the evaluation of experts,the content of this part covered the main knowledge of radiation protection,and the difficulty of the question was appropriate,so it can be used for investigation.(2)RP-attitude Cronbach’s α coefficient of the formal questionnaire was 0.978 and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 83.009%,which indicates that the official questionnaire had high reliability and validity.(3)RP-practice Cronbach’s α coefficient of the formal questionnaire was 0.876 and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 53.958%,which means that the reliability and validity of the formal questionnaire met the requirements.(4)Occupational stress Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.844 and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 77.597%,which suggests that the formal questionnaire had high reliability and validity.2.Radiation protection knowledgeIn the medical field,the total correct rate for RP-knowledge of 672 radiation workers was 68.22%.The results of logistic regression analysis showed that educational level,length of service,and type of work were the influencing factors of RP-knowledge of radiation workers in medical institutions.In the industrial field,the total correct rate for RP-knowledge of 500 radiation workers was 56.32%.Results of logistic regression analysis showed that educational level and length of service were the influencing factors of RP-knowledge of radiation workers in the industrial field.According to the stratified analysis of different educational levels,the pass rate for the RP-knowledge of radiation workers in medical institutions was significantly higher than that of radiation workers in the industrial field(P=0.0056).3.Radiation protection attitudeIn the medical field,the total pass rate for the RP-attitude of the 631 radiation workers was 96.83%.In the industrial field,the total pass rate for the RP-attitude of 206 radiation workers was 96.12%.There was no statistical difference between the pass rate for RPattitude of radiation workers in the medical field and that of radiation workers in the industrial field(P=0.6208).Both groups of workers held positive RP-attitude.4.Radiation protection practiceIn the medical field,the total pass rate for the RP-practice of 631 radiation workers was 96.51%.In the industrial field,the pass rate for the RP-practice of 206 radiation workers was 95.15%.There was no statistical difference between the passing rate of the RP-practice of radiation workers in medical field and that of radiation workers in industrial field(P=0.3740).Both groups of workers had the positive RP-practice.5.Occupational stressIn the medical field,620 radiation workers participated in the occupational stress survey.In the industrial field,154 radiation workers participated in the occupational stress survey.Radiation workers in medical institutions received a lower level of organizational support and reward in their work compared with radiation workers in the industrial field(P=0.0010).However,no statistical difference could be found between two groups in terms of social support,work requirement and contribution,work autonomy,and occupational stress,with all P values over 0.05.6.Association between different dimensionsThe results in the medical field are as follows:RP-knowledge of radiation workers was associated with their RP-attitude(rn=0.1348,P=0.0007).The RP-knowledge of radiation workers was associated with their RP-practice(rn=0.1745,P<0.0001).There was no association between RP-knowledge and occupational stress of radiation workers(P=0.0769).The RP-attitude of radiation workers was associated with their RP-practice(rn=0.2666,P<0.0001).There was no association between RP-attitude and occupational stress of radiation workers(P=0.0713).There was no association between RP-practice and occupational stress of radiation workers(P=0.9883).The results in the industrial field are as follows:RP-knowledge of radiation workers was associated with their RP-attitude(rn=0.2169,P=0.0167).There was no relationship between RP-knowledge and RP-practice of radiation workers(P=0.0570).RP-knowledge of radiation workers was associated with their occupational stress(rn=0.1731,P=0.0291).The RP-attitude of radiation workers was associated with their RP-practice(rn=0.4032,P<0.0004).There was no relationship between RP-attitude and occupational stress of radiation workers(P>0.9999).There was no relationship between RP-practice and occupational stress of radiation workers(P=0.8670).The comparison between the medical field and the industrial field are as follows:In both fields,RP-knowledge of radiation workers was associated with their RP-attitude,and RP-attitude of radiation workers was associated with their RP-practice.However,unlike radiation workers in the medical field,the RP-knowledge of radiation workers in the industrial field was associated with occupational stress,and compared with the group with a low knowledge level,radiation workers with a high level of knowledge were more likely to have occupational stress.7.Radiation protection educationRadiation protection education was divided into three aspects:school education,in-job training and public resource.In terms of school education,only 9 universities in China have set up undergraduate majors in radiation medicine at present,some schools only recruit graduate students in the field of radiation medicine,and all of these schools have set up the course in Radiation Hygiene.In terms of in-job training,the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China and the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China are the main management agencies.Currently,the training on radiation safety and protection organized by the National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China is mainly aimed at radiation workers in the medical field.Since 2006,the Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China has organized the training and examination for all radiation workers.The requirements,examination,time,supervision,management,and mode of training have been continuously reformed and optimized.In-job training has played an important role in promoting the RP-KAP of radiation workers,but there are still some deficiencies.The public education resources mainly include online tweets and journal articles on radiation protection.The results are as follows:(1)Articles from journals about radiation protection The articles,being published in the Chinese Journal of Radiological Medicine and Protection,Radiation Protection,Chinese Journal of Radiological Health,Radiation Protection Bulletin and Journal of Radiation Research and Radiation Processing from 2012 to 2022,were counted.In 2012,there were 708 articles.In 2013,there were 765 articles.In 2014,there were 691 articles.In 2015,there were 743 articles.In 2016,there were 650 articles.In 2017,there were 680 articles.In 2018,there were 617 articles.In 2019,there were 605 articles.In 2020,there were 637 articles.In 2021,there were 634 articles.In 2022,there were 544 articles.(2)Tweets from academic organizations and industry associations The academic organizations of radiation protection mainly include the Society of Radiation Protection,the Chinese Medical Association(Radiology Branch of the Chinese Medical Association,Radiology and Protection Branch of the Chinese Medical Association),and Chinese Preventive Medical Association(Radiation Health Professional Committee of the Chinese Preventive Medicine Association),etc.Among them,the Chinese Society for Radiation Protection has made outstanding contributions to the popularization of radiation knowledge.Until March 2,2023,there were 365 tweets on the official website of the China Society for Radiation Protection.In terms of industrial associations,as of March 2,2023,the Radiation Protection Association of Jiangsu province published 108 tweets on the basic knowledge,184 tweets on the impact and protection of radiation,38 tweets on nuclear and radiological policies and regulations,and 91 popularization videos on the Nuclear and Radiation Society website.At the same time,Radiation Protection Association of Zhejiang province published 16 tweets on policies and regulations,and 11 tweets on radiation basic knowledge on its website.(3)Tweets from regulatory agencies As of February 3,2023,the tweets related to ionizing radiation released by various agencies were as follows:There were 114 tweets on the official website of the National Nuclear Safety Administration.There were 42 tweets on official websites of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Center,which is affiliated to Ministry of Ecology and Environment of the People’s Republic of China.There were 23 tweets on the official websites of the National Atomic Energy Agency.There were 3 tweets on the official website of China Center for Disease Control and Prevention.In general,there are many public resources related to the basic knowledge of ionizing radiation and radiation protection currently,which provides radiation workers with relatively rich radiation protection knowledge.Conclusions(1)Most of the radiation workers in this study have a positive attitude towards radiation protection and take radiation protection measures actively in their work.However,their level of RP-knowledge is low and their RP-knowledge still needs to be strengthened.(2)Some radiation workers in medical institutions experience high levels of occupation-al stress in this study.The institutions should take some measures to relieve the occupational stress of radiation workers,such as providing psychological counseling.(3)Institutions should manage the RP-KAP and occupational stress of radiation workers from an overall perspective so as to provide protection for physical and mental health of radiation workers.(4)In-job training is an important way to improve the knowledge,attitude and practice of radiation workers.More effective training should be carried out based on the real situation to further improve the RP-knowledge and skills of radiation workers.(5)Currently,there are many public education resources,but the number of universities offering radiation medicine majors is insufficient.Thus,it is necessary to encourage more universities to set up a major of radiation medicine and to expand the public education resources continuously. |
