Abstract
Cancer is the leading cause of mortality around the world. However, the majority of cancers occur as a result of modifiable risk factors; hence public awareness of cancer risk factors is crucial to reduce the incidence. The objective of this study was to identify the level of public awareness of cancer risk factors among the adult Omani population. A community based survey using the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) questionnaire was conducted in three areas of Oman to measure public awareness of cancer risk factors. Omani adults aged 18 years and above were invited to participate in the study. SPPSS (ver.20) was used to analyse the data. A total of 384 participated from 500 invited individuals (response rate =77%). The majority of respondents agreed that smoking cigarettes (320, 83.3%), passive smoking (279, 72.7%) and excessive drinking of alcohol (265, 69%) are risks factors for cancer. However, fewer respondents agreed that eating less fruit and vegetables (83, 21.6%), eating more red or processed meat (116, 30.2%), being overweight (BMI>25) (123, 32%), doing less physical exercise (119, 31%), being over 70 years old (72, 18.8%), having a close relative with cancer (134, 34.9%), infection with human papilloma virus (HPV) (117, 30.5%) and getting frequent sunburn during childhood (149, 38.8%) are risk factors for cancer. A significant association was found between participant responses and their educational level. The higher the educational level, the more likely that respondents identified cancer risk factors including smoking (p<0.0005), passive smoking (p= 0.007), excessive drinking of alcohol (p<0.0005), eating less fruit and vegetables (p= 0.001) and infection with HPV (p<0.0005). The majority of respondents in this study in Oman were not aware of the common risk factors for cancer. It may be possible to reduce the incidence of cancers in Oman by developing strategies to educate the public about these risk factors.
Highlights
Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in many countries around the world
Less than half of respondents agreed that being over 70 years old (72, 18.8%), having a close relative diagnosed with cancer (134, 34.9%), infection with human papilloma virus (HPV) (117, 30.5%) or getting sunburn more than once during childhood (149,38.8%) increased the risk of cancer (Table 1)
The higher the educational level of the respondents, the more likely they were to recognize that the following were risk factors of cancer: smoking (p
Summary
Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in many countries around the world. Approximately 7.6 million deaths worldwide (around 13% of all deaths) occurred in 2008 as a result of cancer; the incidence of different types of cancer has increased in the past 20 years and is expected to rise further with an estimated 13.1 million deaths per annum by 2030 (World Health Organization, 2014a, Babu et al, 2013; Shi et al, 2014; Keramatinia et al, 2014). The majorities of cancer occurred as a result of potentially modifiable risk factors including smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet (high fat, less fiber), obesity, lack of physical activity, sexually transmitted Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection and urban air pollution (Danaei, 2005). The objective of this study was to identify the level of public awareness of cancer risk factors among the adult Omani population. The majority of respondents agreed that smoking cigarettes (320, 83.3%), passive smoking (279, 72.7%) and excessive drinking of alcohol (265, 69%) are risks factors for cancer. The higher the educational level, the more likely that respondents identified cancer risk factors including smoking (p
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