Knowledge and attitude toward proton radiotherapy among oncology patients: a multi-center, cross-sectional study.

To explore the knowledge and attitude among oncology patients toward proton radiotherapy. This cross-sectional study was performed using self-designed questionnaire. Based on 546 valid questionnaires, mean knowledge and attitude scores of 3.4 ± 3.6 (range: 0-12) and 31.1 ± 3.5 (range: 10-50) were observed. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that higher education ( = 0.021), higher monthly income ( = 0.005), and proton radiotherapy history ( < 0.001) were independently associated with higher knowledge scores. Higher knowledge ( = 0.020), older age ( = 0.030), not smoking ( = 0.032) and medication use ( = 0.035) were independently associated with higher attitude scores. Oncology patients have insufficient knowledge and negative attitude toward proton radiotherapy, which might be affected by their age, education, income, proton radiotherapy history, employment, smoking and medication use.