Factors Impacting Public Acceptance of Medical Radiation Exposure

Abstract

We undertook a survey to determine the public acceptance of medical radiation exposure throughout Japan, and 1,357 responses (67.9% response rate) were obtained using a two-stage systematic stratified random sampling method. The acceptance of exposure of children was generally similar to that of adults. For each of the attributes, 45–60% of the participants were accepting of exposure for cancer treatment and diagnosis, but only 30% were accepting of exposure for X-ray diagnoses of bone fractures and dental caries. In general, the presence of a child did not markedly affect women’s acceptance of exposure. Factor analyses identified 3 factors influencing the acceptance of child exposure: symptomatic diseases to determine treatment, the possibility of high-risk diseases (or major organ diseases), and the association with cancer. Cluster analysis showed 4 clusters: a positive group regarding children’s exposure for the diagnosis of bone fractures and dental caries (12.9% of all participants), a positive group for major organ disease and cancer (15.5%), a negative group excluding cancer (55.2%), and a positive group for all cases (16.4%). The cluster distributions revealed that mothers with 10-to 18-year-old firstborn children showed a tendency to accept the medical radiation exposure of their children in all cases.