Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) and Cancer Awareness Measure MYthical Causes Scale (CAM-MY) scores in Pakistani population

Abstract

Lifestyle modifications could prevent almost one-third to one-half of all cancer cases. The awareness of cancer risk factors could motivate people to make such changes in their behaviors and lifestyles. This work aims to investigate the cancer awareness level in the Pakistani population. Telephone interviews of 657 individuals in Pakistan were carried out using the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) and Cancer Awareness Measure–MYthical Causes Scale (CAM-MY). We observed that participants scored significantly better on the CAM scale than the CAM-MY scale, and CAM scores were negatively associated with CAM-MY scores. Years of formal education or a biology major at undergraduate or graduate level did not affect our population's cancer awareness levels. Age displayed a weak but statistically significant negative association with CAM scores. Most participants failed to identify modifiable cancer risk factors, e.g., low physical activity. Efforts should be made to improve awareness of modifiable risk factors. We observed that brief training sessions could markedly improve people's understanding of cancer risk factors and myths.