Knowledge and Practice Regarding Hazards of Ultraviolet Radiation amongst Medical Students of Pakistan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Author(s): Samun Shahzad, Faria Latif Sami, Ali Ishtiaq, Naveen Siddique Sheikh, Mehsim Abid, Hasban Ahmed, Hania Latif Sami, Nasir Anis, Muhammad Usama Rafiq

Background: Ultraviolet radiation is a type of electromagnetic radiation whose origin is sun and man-made sources. Unprotected exposure to UV radiation has been attributed to causing diseases such as skin cancer, hence proper protection is necessary when coming in contact with a UV radiation source.

Objectives: To establish the knowledge and practices regarding the hazards of UV radiation exposure amongst undergraduate medical students.

Methodology: We conducted a cross-sectional study to determine the knowledge and practice regarding the hazards of UV radiation amongst medical students. Questionnaire was filled with a 100% response rate. Final data were analyzed with the help of SPSS version 21.0 and the descriptive statistics e.g. percentage and frequencies were calculated.

Results: Of the 200 participants, 69% were females and 31% were males. Regarding the effects of sun, level of knowledge averaged at 8.39 ± 1.71 out of 12 points. Of the participants, 27.5% had good general knowledge about the hazards of UV exposure and photoprotective practices, 69.5% had fair knowledge while 3% had poor knowledge on the subject matter. Umbrella was a popular choice for photoprotection amongst females with 57.2% reporting of its use while in male hat usage was the popular choice as reported by 14.5% of them. 35.5% of the participants reported never having received formal education about the hazards of UV radiation.

 Conclusion: In Pakistan, medical students demonstrated good knowledge regarding the hazards of ultraviolet radiation but there was low usage of active sun-safe practices such as sunscreen which demonstrates that there is a gap between knowledge and practice.