Introduction. The presence of a uranium mine in Kirovograd (now Kropyvnytsky) is one of the factors that affects the health of the population. The incidence of malignant neoplasms per 100 000 population in this city is consistently higher than the national rate. Its average level for the last five years was (M±m): in Kirovograd — 537.30±13.81; In Ukraine — 350.50±3.76.
Goal. Assessment of the level of awareness of the population of the Kirovograd on the most significant risk factors for oncological diseases (“I know”), the individual attitude towards them («I understand») and readiness on my part for appropriate actions (“fulfill”) for further development of a set of preventive health education activities.
Materials and methods. The data of two surveys in May-June 2012 (740 participants) and December 2014 (181 participants) are given. Statistical analysis of sociological research materials was carried out using the statistical program Microsoft Excel 2010 and STATISTICA v. 6.1®.
Results and discussion. The overwhelming majority of respondents (78 %) recognize the insufficient level of awareness of the dangers of ionizing radiation and its sources — “I know”. Only 27.8% of the respondents said that the territory of the city was clean or satisfactory. “I understand”: about 72% of the respondents are aware of the danger of contamination of the territory of Kirovograd with radionuclides. “I do it” — the majority of the respondents, whose families had cases of oncological diseases (56.7%), connect them specifically to the effect of ionizing radiation, ignoring their own way of life. When polling in 2014, the opinion of Kirovograd residents did not change, namely: one in four (25.5%) considers cases of oncological diseases in the family as a direct consequence of radiation exposure; 37.2% of the respondents indicated the possibility of such influence, as many as 37.2% do not think so. At the same time, according to the survey, 27.6% of respondents smoke at different intervals. The absolute majority of them are young men (mean age — (19.7±1.0) years) and women over 30 ((40.9±0.9) years).
The conclusion. Most respondents realize that smoking harms health, but this does not prevent many of the respondents from continuing to smoke, neglecting not only their health, but also the health of family members.