Health literacy and awareness of cancer control in urban China, 2005-2017: overall design of a national multicenter survey

Abstract

The health literacy refers to the ability of individuals to acquire and understand basic health information and services and use them to make the right decisions to maintain and promote their health. Health literacy data focusing on cancer prevention and control was limited in China. In order to understand the health literacy and awareness of cancer risk factors and the cancer screening, early diagnosis and treatment in Chinese urban residents and compare the effect of different stages of the cancer intervention, the Cancer Screening Program in Urban China (CanSPUC) program, supported by the National Key Public Health Program, conducted a survey on the health literacy of the cancer prevention and treatment among urban residents in 16 provinces nationwide from 2015 to 2017. Four subgroups were designed in this survey, including (1) general population who have never participated in any cancer screening programs at a community-level; (2) individuals who have previously attended the CanSPUC program for cancer risk assessment or screening intervention; (3) cancer patients who were receiving treatment in local hospitals; (4) a special group from employees of government and public institutions (non-health system), state-owned enterprises and private enterprises (to have better understand on the impact of socioeconomic factors). The self-designed questionnaire covered six parts, including basic information, consciousness of common risk factors to cancer, awareness of early detection, awareness of early diagnosis, awareness of early treatment, and the needs and approaches for knowledge of cancer prevention and treatment. A total of 32 257 individuals were included in the final analyses. This paper landscaped the overall design of the survey, including participants, domains of the instrument, quality control, basic characteristics of the included individuals. These descriptions are applicable to each individual report of the current special issue of "Health Literacy of Cancer Control in Urban China" and future reports, in which more detailed results are and will be reported. The findings of this survey could provide some useful implications for similar researches in the future.