Perception of Risks from Ionizing and Non-Ionizing Radiation Sources (Literature Review)

There is confusion and misunderstanding in questions about the discrepancy between perceived and actual health risks and the different perceptions of risks by doctors, physicists, and epidemiologists. Some patients suffer from radiophobia and do not dare to have a diagnostic examination or refuse it due to perceived health risks. In addition, the population has become increasingly concerned about the possible effects of radio frequency EMF radiation on human health, along with an increase in their exposure, and that some psychophysiological disorders, such as the "nocebo" effect, can even lead to death. Risk perception is a subjective judgment of people about the nature and degree of risk, which consists of two components (danger, indignation reactions) and depends on individual factors, external factors, as well as the nature of the risk. The need for targeted educational activities is emphasized to eliminate misconceptions, knowledge gaps and raise awareness, and social networks, electronic media, applications or videos can play a significant role in this case. When preparing information and educational materials on the effects of radiation of various nature, special attention should be paid to the specifics of the target audience, taking into account the specifics in providing information for different socio-demographic groups of the population. Properly constructed information work will help to remove unreasonable fears from a certain part of the population and specialists and will focus the attention of the target audience on the need to comply with norms and rules aimed at reducing the effects of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation on the human body. The aim of the work was to analyze the available literature on assessing the perception of risks from sources of ionizing and non-ionizing radiation by different groups of the people (population, patients, medical workers and specialists).