Gender differences in perception of radiopharmaceuticals in diagnostics and therapy among laypeople - Assessing acceptance of treatment, knowledge, and attitudes in an online study with vignettes

Knowledge of medical procedures reduces uncertainty and encourages acceptance. Building on earlier studies on gender differences in risk assessment, we tested in a sample of N = 212 German speaking adults whether women and men would differ in accepting radiopharmaceutical procedures. We found that men more often agreed to treatment with radioisotopes without further inquiry compared to women. The results point to the importance of gender differences in health-related decisions, which should be considered by medical staff. Women associated diseases, disasters and dangers with the term 'radioactivity' significantly more often than men. This might be important in case of communicating radiopharmaceutical procedures especially to female patients.