Abstract
Cancer Screening is a key approach to detect cancer at an early stage and help reduce cancer mortality globally. Inadequate Cancer Literacy may pose a barrier to patient engagement in getting screened for cancer. This study assessed Cancer Screening behavior and its association with Cancer Literacy and other factors among adults of Kaski district, Nepal. A cross-sectional study was carried out among 180 adults from March to August 2019, selected using a multi-stage random sampling method. Data on demographics, history of cancer, use of naturopathy, fatalism, family support, cancer literacy and cancer screening behaviour were collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, with the aid of face-to-face interviews. Cancer Literacy was measured using a cancer health literacy tool (CHLT-6), and Cancer Screening behaviour was assessed on the basis of the self reported information about having gone through any type of cancer screening in the past. Odds ratio (OR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) was calculated to determine the strength of association using Multivariate Logistic Regression analysis. Only 43.4% of the respondents had Cancer Literacy scores more than the median and only 11.7% had ever gone through any Cancer Screening test in the past. In this study, Cancer Screening behaviour was significantly associated with Cancer Literacy [OR = 1.43, 95% CI (1.01–2.02)]. Similarly, significant association was found between Cancer Screening behaviour and other exposure variables such as age [OR = 1.06, 95% CI (1.02–1.11)] and gender [OR = 0.06, 95% CI (0.01–0.35)]. This study showed low cancer screening and cancer literacy scores amongst the respondents. This suggests that to tackle the ever increasing burden of cancer and hence, to increase cancer screening, we need to focus on improving knowledge and awareness about cancer, as well as, on targeting efforts towards people’s understanding of basic health and cancer terminologies.
Highlights
Cancer, at present, is a widely known non-communicable disease in the world, and Nepal is no exception to this health problem
As per the 2018 national annual health report, a total of 13,997 cases were reported in the Out-patient Departments (OPDs) of the country, and among those, 27.6% cases were from Gandaki Province [4]
The median age of the participants who had gone through some kind of cancer screening test was 42.0 (34.5–58.5) years
Summary
At present, is a widely known non-communicable disease in the world, and Nepal is no exception to this health problem. In Nepal, the total number of deaths due to cancer had reached 186,000 in 2014, with more deaths among the females [1]. As per the 2018 national annual health report, a total of 13,997 cases were reported in the Out-patient Departments (OPDs) of the country, and among those, 27.6% cases were from Gandaki Province [4]. Within this province too, Kaski tops the list of districts being the most affected by cancer disease [5]
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