ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Radiation Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1432187
Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Cancer Patients Regarding Radiotherapy and Radiation Protection
Provisionally accepted
- 1Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University International Hospital, Beijing, China
- 2Department of Oncology, Peking University International Hospital, Beijing, China
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Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of cancer patients regarding radiotherapy and radiation protection.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2023 and January 2024, at Peking University International Hospital, and included cancer patients through convenience sampling. Demographic characteristics and KAP scores were collected through distributed questionnaires.Results: A total of 497 valid questionnaires were collected, with 252 (50.70%) completed by females. Of the respondents, 463 (93.16%) demonstrated awareness of the irradiation site for their treatment. Mean knowledge, attitude, and practice scores were 14.84 ± 4.99 (possible range: 0 - 28), 26.94 ± 3.63 (possible range: 8 - 40), and 25.24 ± 4.26 (possible range: 6 - 30), respectively. Correlation analyses revealed significant positive correlations between knowledge and attitude (r = 0.141, P = 0.002), as well as practice (r = 0.300, P < 0.001). Similarly, there was a correlation between attitude and practice (r = 0.279, P < 0.001). The path analysis revealed that knowledge was significantly associated with attitude (β = 0.142, P < 0.001) and practice (β = 0.202, P < 0.001). Similarly, attitude was associated with practice (β = 0.310, P < 0.001).Conclusion: Cancer patients exhibited inadequate knowledge, moderate attitudes and proactive practices towards radiotherapy and radiation protection. The positive correlations between knowledge and various factors, such as radiotherapy awareness, ionizing radiation understanding, and patient comprehensive scores, underscore the integral role of patient education in enhancing their approach to radiotherapy and radiation protection.
Keywords: knowledge, Attitude, Practice, Cancer patient, Radiotherapy, Radiation Protection, Cross-sectional study
Received: 11 Jul 2024; Accepted: 10 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cui, Wang, Kong, Wang, Tang and Liang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jun Liang, Department of Radiation Oncology, Peking University International Hospital, Beijing, China
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