Abstract
“Secondary exposure to anticancer drugs” refers to exposure to anticancer drugs after chemotherapy via the patientʼs urine and other excretions. The necessity of countermeasures against secondary exposure to anticancer drugs has been recently highlighted. We investigated 1,000 Japanese participants without cancer in February 2022 and approximately 90 percent of them did not know about secondary exposure to anticancer drugs. In addition, approximately 90 percent of participants indicated that medical staff must explain the exposure controls to them and their cohabiting family members before commencing the chemotherapy. The risk perception analysis revealed that peopleʼs “dread” of secondary exposure to anticancer drugs was not amplified by providing information. Adverse impact on communication with close friends or colleagues who would share a restroom caused by providing information was also minimal. (P < 0.001, Effect size r = 0.22). Using logistic regression analysis, the background factors associated with the feasibility of secondary exposure control to anticancer drugs were male (odds ratio [OR] = 0.615; 95％ confidence interval [CI]: 0.458 - 0.827, P = 0.001), health literacy (OR = 1.387; 95％CI: 1.116 - 1.723, P = 0.003), family cooperation to implement countermeasures (OR = 1.901; 95％CI: 1.673 - 2.159, P < 0.001), and the psychological burden of communicating with family members about secondary exposure control (OR = 0.544; 95％CI: 0.458 - 0.646, P < 0.001). This suggests that consideration of patientʼs health literacy and provision of secondary exposure information to both the patient and household members are vital for risk communication to promote the relevant countermeasures.
