Abstract
Objectives
Canadians have reason to care about indoor air quality as they spend over 90% of the time indoors. Although indoor radon causes more deaths than any other environmental hazard, only 55% of Canadians have heard of it, and of these, 6% have taken action. The gap between residents’ risk awareness and adoption of actual protective behaviour presents a challenge to public health practitioners. Residents’ perception of the risk should inform health communication that targets motivation for action. In Canada, research about the public perception of radon health risk is lacking. The aim of this study was to describe residents’ perceptions of radon health risks and, applying a theoretical lens, evaluate how perceptions correlate with protection behaviours.
Methods
We conducted a mixed online and face-to-face survey (N = 557) with both homeowners and tenants in Ottawa-Gatineau census metropolitan area. Descriptive, correlation, and regression analyses addressed the research questions.
Results
Compared to the gravity of the risk, public perception remained low. While 32% of residents expressed some concern about radon health risk, 12% of them tested and only 3% mitigated their homes for radon. Residents’ perceptions of the probability and severity of the risk, social influence, care for children, and smoking in home correlated significantly with their intention to test; these factors also predicted their behaviours for testing and mitigation.
Conclusion
Health risk communication programs need to consider the affective aspects of risk perception in addition to rational cognition to improve protection behaviours. A qualitative study can explore the reasons behind the gap between testing and mitigation.
Résumé
Objectifs
Les Canadiens ont de bonnes raisons de se préoccuper de la qualité de l’air intérieur, car ils passent plus de 90 % de leur temps à l’intérieur. Bien que le radon domiciliaire (RD) cause plus de décès que tout autre risques environnementaux, seulement 55 % des Canadiens en ont déjà entendu parler, et d’entre eux seulement 6 % ont pris des mesures concrètes pour l’éradiquer. L’écart entre la sensibilisation aux risques et la prise de mesures de protection réelles par les résidents constitue un défi pour les professionnels de la santé publique. La perception des résidents face aux risques associés au RD devrait guider la communication en matière de santé pour cibler la motivation. Au Canada, très peu d’études portant sur les perceptions de la population face aux risques associés au RD ont été réalisées. Le but de cette étude est de décrire les perceptions qu’entretiennent les occupants de bâtiments résidentiels face aux risques pour la santé associée au RD et évaluer comment ces perceptions sont corrélées aux comportements de protection, notamment en appliquant la théorie de la motivation et de la protection.
Méthodes
Nous avons réalisé une enquête mixte en ligne et en personne (n = 557) auprès de propriétaires et de locataires de la région d’Ottawa-Gatineau. Des analyses descriptives, corrélationnelles et des analyses de régressions ont été effectuées en fonction de nos questions de recherche.
Résultats
En comparaison à la gravité des risques, les perceptions du public demeurent faibles. Bien que 32 % des résidents ont exprimé des préoccupations au sujet du danger que représente le radon pour la santé, seulement 12 % d’entre eux ont réalisé des tests à domicile et seulement 3 % ont pris des actions concrètes pour réduire les risques. Les perceptions des résidents quant à la probabilité et à la gravité des risques du RD sur leur santé, l’influence sociale, les soins prodigués aux enfants, ainsi que le tabagisme à la maison étaient significativement corrélées avec leur intention de réaliser un test. Ces facteurs ont également prédit leurs comportements en lien avec l’utilisation du test et les actions entreprises pour diminuer les risques.
Conclusion
Les programmes de communication sur les risques du RD sur la santé doivent tenir compte des aspects affectifs associés à la perception des risques, en plus de tenir compte du niveau de connaissances pour améliorer les comportements de protection. Une recherche de nature qualitative serait nécessaire pour explorer les raisons qui expliquent l’écart entre le taux d’utilisation des tests de détection et les actions concrètes pour diminuer les risques.
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Acknowledgements
Our thanks to all study participants for taking part. Thank you from Khan (first author) to his co-supervisor, Dr. Samia Chreim, for her valuable feedback; to Drs. Tracey O’Sullivan and Louise Bouchard for their generous guidance; and to colleague Nicole Bergen for pre-review. We thank David Buetti and Émilie Lessar for revising the French abstract. Grateful thanks to Kelley Bush and Deepti Bijlani from Health Canada for reviewing the survey questionnaire and kindly supporting the first author’s community health campaigns.
This article reports the quantitative part of a mixed methods research project conducted for a doctoral dissertation during winter 2018 at the University of Ottawa.
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The University of Ottawa’s Institutional Review Board approved the study and data collection protocols (file number: H10-17-03).
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Khan, S.M., Krewski, D., Gomes, J. et al. Radon, an invisible killer in Canadian homes: perceptions of Ottawa-Gatineau residents. Can J Public Health 110, 139–148 (2019). https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-018-0151-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.17269/s41997-018-0151-5