Awareness is the first step: What Ghanaian community pharmacists know about cancer

Objectives The goal of this study was to access the knowledge of a representative sample of community pharmacists in Ghana on general cancer, risk factors, signs and symptom and most common cancer counseling points known to community pharmacists. Methods A structured online questionnaire was administered to 435 registered community pharmacists in the sixteen regions of Ghana. Key findings: Mean score for knowledge of cancer among community pharmacists was 6.8 ± 1.61 points out of a maximum score of 15 points, categorizing the overall knowledge as inadequate. The overall assessment of pharmacists’ knowledge revealed that 74.6% of the participants had inadequate level of knowledge on cancer. Mean score for knowledge of cancer signs and symptoms among community pharmacists was 3.55 ± 1.85 out of a maximum score of 7 points, categorizing the overall knowledge as inadequate. The overall evaluation indicated that 79.03% of pharmacists had inadequate knowledge of signs and symptoms cancer. Mean score for knowledge of risk factors of cancer among community pharmacists was 5.25 ± 1.15 out of a maximum score of 12 points, categorizing the overall knowledge as inadequate. The overall assessment of the knowledge score indicates that 70.34% of pharmacists had inadequate knowledge about causes and risk factors of cancer. Almost all participating pharmacists (96.5%) recommended counselling point was avoidance of smoking as a cancer preventive measure. An inverse significant correlation was found between age and knowledge scores of signs and symptoms of cancer (r = −0.077, P = 0.038). There was a statistically significant relationship between pharmacists’ level of knowledge on cancer (whether adequate or inadequate) and the cancer items. Conclusions Knowledge of cancer, its signs and symptoms and its risk factors were inadequate among community pharmacists in Ghana. Efforts should be made to improve knowledge of community pharmacists on cancer through continuous education. Also, undergraduate pharmacy training in oncology should encourage to close knowledge gap of community pharmacists on cancer.

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Impact of brief educational intervention on knowledge of cancer among community pharmacists

Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice ◽

10.1177/10781552211041977 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 107815522110419

Author(s):

Kofi Boamah Mensah ◽

Adwoa Bemah Boamah Mensah ◽

Ebenezer Wiafe ◽

Neelaveni Padayachee ◽

Abena Yeboah Aduse Poku ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Educational Intervention ◽

Community Pharmacists ◽

Signs And Symptoms ◽

Knowledge Score ◽

Screening Tests ◽

Maximum Score ◽

Total Knowledge Score ◽

Cancer Screening Tests ◽

The Mean ◽

Knowledge Of Cancer

Introduction Community pharmacists may play a vital role in early detection and prevention of cancer. Findings from our pre-assessment studies showed that the Ghanaian community have inadequate knowledge of cancer. We assessed the impact of a brief educational intervention on knowledge level of cancer among Ghanaian community pharmacists. Method The study was a descriptive interventional study. Knowledge of cancer, signs and symptoms, risk factors and cancer screening tests were assessed before in a pre-assessment study and after a brief online education in our current study. A total of 435 community pharmacists were recruited in both studies. Results The mean ± SD total knowledge score of cancer increased from 9.03 ± 2.65 to 12.97 ± 1.43 out of a maximum score of 15 points. The mean ± SD total knowledge score of signs and symptoms of cancer increased from 4.15 ± 2.14 to 6.86 ± 0.76 out of a maximum score of 7 points. For the total knowledge score of causes and risk factors of cancer, the mean ± SD score increased from 8.13 ± 3.31 to 11.59 ± 0.87 out of a maximum score of 12 points. Lastly, the mean ± SD total knowledge score of cancer screening tests increased from 9.04 ± 5.01 to 16.39 ± 0.86 out of a maximum score of 18 points. Conclusion There were overall statistically significant improvements of participants knowledge in all aspects of cancer in this study compared to the pre-assessment study. Our study presents evidence of the effectiveness of a brief educational intervention tailor-made for Ghanaian community pharmacists.

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The impact of a volunteer-led community cancer awareness programme on knowledge of cancer risk factors and symptoms, screening, and barriers to seeking help

Patient Education and Counseling ◽

10.1016/j.pec.2019.09.025 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 103 (3) ◽

pp. 563-570

Author(s):

Greg Williams ◽

Julia Mueller ◽

Cordelle Mbeledogu ◽

Angela Spencer ◽

Emily Parry-Harries ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cancer Risk ◽

Cancer Awareness ◽

Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Seeking Help ◽

Knowledge Of Cancer ◽

Awareness Programme ◽

The Impact

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Level of Knowledge Among Turkish People for Cancer and Cancer Risk Factors

Journal of Turkish Society of Obstetric and Gynecology ◽

10.5505/tjod.2011.93446 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 57-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 11

Author(s):

Murat Gultekin ◽

Nejat Ozgul ◽

Emire Olcayto ◽

Murat Tuncer

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cancer Risk ◽

Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Turkish People ◽

Level Of Knowledge

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Knowledge and preparedness of community pharmacists in the fight against COVID-19 in Zambia

International Journal of Scientific Reports ◽

10.18203/issn.2454-2156.intjscirep20212836 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (8) ◽

pp. 402

Author(s):

Jimmy Mapenzi Hangoma ◽

Steward Mudenda ◽

Mpande Mukumbwa Mwenechanya ◽

Aubrey Chichoni Kalungia

Keyword(s):

Statistical Tests ◽

Community Pharmacists ◽

Signs And Symptoms ◽

Self Report ◽

Suspected Case ◽

National Guidelines ◽

Cross Sectional Survey ◽

Online Questionnaire ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Screening Criteria

Background: The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has severely strained healthcare systems globally. Community pharmacists remain vital health professionals with unique roles in responding to symptoms, supplying medicines and providing health promotion in the communities where they serve. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and preparedness of community pharmacists in the fight against COVID-19 in Zambia.Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 300 registered community pharmacists in Zambia from April to May 2020. A self-administered online questionnaire was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data using the statistical package for social sciences version 23. All statistical tests were set at 95% confidence level (p<0.05).Results: From a total of 393 community pharmacists, 300 participated in the study indicating a response rate of 76.3%. 97% of the pharmacists knew the common signs and symptoms of COVID-19, 83% knew the national guidelines for screening criteria and 93% were aware that a suspected case of COVID-19 presenting to the community pharmacy needed to be alerted to the national response team. Only 59% knew they needed to self-isolate and self-report should they experience symptoms of COVID-19. 85% stated that personal protective equipment was inadequate in the pharmacies they operated from. 60% of the pharmacists were prepared to participate in the frontline fight against COVID-19.Conclusions: Community pharmacists in Zambia are knowledgeable about COVID-19 signs and symptoms including the technical guidelines on the screening and detection of suspected cases. Community pharmacists are prepared to participate in the frontline fight against the COVID-19 pandemic in Zambia.

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Knowledge of cancer risk factors.

Journal of Clinical Oncology ◽

10.1200/jco.2010.28.15_suppl.1570 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 28 (15_suppl) ◽

pp. 1570-1570

Author(s):

K. M. Gil ◽

S. Yeropoli ◽

B. Fish ◽

L. Schnegg ◽

J. L. Savitski

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cancer Risk ◽

Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Knowledge Of Cancer

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Polish High School Students’ Knowledge about Cancer

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18094765 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (9) ◽

pp. 4765

Author(s):

Monika Rucinska ◽

Radoslaw Sroda ◽

Olga Wilk ◽

Arian Saied ◽

Jakub Miloszewski ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Cancer Risk ◽

School Students ◽

Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Knowledge Of Cancer ◽

Almost All ◽

The Relationship ◽

Global Health Problem

Background: Cancer, as the second most common cause of death after cardiovascular diseases, is a global health problem. There is still an increasing number of cancer incidences and deaths. Methods: The study was conducted as a part of the health promotion educational project concerning oncological education to develop the knowledge of cancer risk factors among high school students in Poland. A special questionnaire was filled out by students before the educational lesson on cancer conducted by medical students and young doctors. Results: The study was carried out on 227 high school students (aged 17–18 years). Most students (67.5%) indicated that genetic predisposition is the most important cancer risk factor. Only about a quarter of students pointed to the relationship between lifestyle and cancer. Moreover, 41% of students admitted to smoking cigarettes. Most of them (80.6%) claimed that they can modify their own cancer risk. Almost all responders believed that early detected cancer is curable. Conclusions: High school students do not know about cancer risk factors and they do not relate cancer with lifestyle. Some students indicated bad lifestyle habits such as tobacco smoking. It is necessary to emphasize cancer prevention in early education, especially focusing on modification of lifestyle.

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HUBUNGAN PENGETAHUAN ORANG TUA TENTANG FAKTOR RISIKO KANKER DENGAN SIKAP PENCEGAHAN KANKER

JURNAL ILMIAH KEPERAWATAN ALTRUISTIK ◽

10.48079/vol2.iss2.39 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Nuraini Hakim, Feni Amelia Puspitasari

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Cancer Prevention ◽

Parental Knowledge ◽

Bivariate Analysis ◽

Chi Square ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Prevention Of Cancer ◽

Knowledge Of Cancer ◽

Cancer In Children

Cancer is a collection of abnormal cells formed by cells that grow continuously, not limited, not coordinated with surrounding tissues, and not physiological functioning (Price & Wilson, 2005 in Nurhidayah, Hendrawati, Mediani, & Adistie, 2016). The case of cancer in children amounted to 4.7% of cancer at all ages. Indonesia is a country with high cancer cases suffered by children. Parents can make preventive efforts by identifying cancer-causing risk factors. Cancer prevention needs to be done to suppress the amount of morbidity and mortality of cancer. Efforts undertaken to prevent cancer by avoiding the risk factors of cancer-triggers. Preliminary study obtained parents ' knowledge about the risk factor of cancer is quite good, but there is no explanation about its relationship with the cancer prevention attitude that parents do to the child. This research aims to determine the relationship between parents ' knowledge and the prevention of cancer in children. The design of this research uses a descriptive cross sectional to figure out the knowledge level of parents on cancer risk factors in children, and its relation to the attitude of cancer prevention in children. The analysis used is using the Chi square test. The results of the univariate study obtained the most level of knowledge of respondents was good, and attitudes towards the prevention of cancer was positive. Results of bivariate analysis obtained there are no relationship between parental knowledge with cancer prevention (pvalue: 0.396; p > 0.05). The recommendation of this research is to keep parents improving their knowledge of cancer in children and applying cancer prevention efforts in daily life.

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Knowledge Level of Cancer Symptoms and Risk Factors in the Gaza Strip: A Cross-sectional Study

10.21203/rs.2.18182/v2 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Mohamedraed Elshami ◽

Alaa Elshami ◽

Nabeela Alshorbassi ◽

Mohammed Alkhatib ◽

Iyad Ismail ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

Fruits And Vegetables ◽

Public Awareness ◽

Signs And Symptoms ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Sectional Study ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Early Presentation ◽

Cancer Symptoms ◽

Knowledge Of Cancer

Abstract Background In low-income settings, cancer is often diagnosed in advanced stages due to late presentation. Good public awareness of cancer signs and symptoms has a positive impact on the time patients take before they present to healthcare professionals. Therefore, this study examined public knowledge of cancer signs and symptoms as well as risk factors in Gaza. Methods This was a cross-sectional study. Participants were recruited from adult visitors (≥18 years) to governmental hospitals covering all five governorates of Gaza, and adolescent students (15 to 17 years) from ten high schools in corresponding locations. An Arabic version of the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) was completed in a face-to-face interview. It described demographic data and knowledge of: cancer prevalence, age-related risk, signs and symptoms as well as risk factors both in recall and recognition questions. Results Of 3033 participants invited, 2886 completed the CAM (response rate= 95.2%). Adult mean age ± standard deviation (SD) was 33.7±11.7 years and that of adolescents was 16.3±0.8 years. Half of the participants (n=1457, 50.5%) were adolescent (781 females; 53.6%) and 1429 (49.5%) were adult (702 females; 49.1%). About two thirds (n=1885) thought about cancer as unrelated to age. Only 196 participants (6.8%) identified colorectal cancer as the most common cancer among men. Awareness of cancer signs/symptoms was poor to fair, where ‘lump’ was most commonly recognized (n= 2227, 77.2%) and ‘change of bowel habit’ the least (n=670, 23.2%). Only 217 participants (7.5%) had a good level of recognizing risk factors with ‘smoking’ being the most identified and ‘eating less than five portions of fruits and vegetables a day’ the least. There was a higher likelihood for adults to identify most cancer signs/symptoms and risk factors than adolescents, except for recalling ‘unexplained pain’, ‘persistent cough/hoarseness’, ‘non-healing ulcer’, ‘smoking’, and ‘eating less than five portions of fruits and vegetables a day’. Conclusion Public awareness of cancer signs/symptoms and risk factors needs to improve to facilitate early presentation and diagnosis in Gaza. Combining the delivery of public campaigns with tailored education to population groups, including the youth, may increase their knowledge and maintain its impact.

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Awareness Levels about Breast Cancer Risk Factors, Early Warning Signs, and Screening and Therapeutic Approaches among Iranian Adult Women: A large Population Based Study Using Latent Class Analysis

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2014/306352 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 2014 ◽

pp. 1-9 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Mahdi Tazhibi ◽

Awat Feizi

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Risk Factors ◽

Early Warning ◽

Latent Class ◽

Warning Signs ◽

Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Early Warning Signs ◽

Breast Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Level Of Knowledge ◽

Screening Approaches

Background and Objective. Breast cancer (BC) continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality among women throughout the world and in Iran. Lack of awareness and early detection program in developing country is a main reason for escalating the mortality. The present research was conducted to assess the Iranian women’s level of knowledge about breast cancer risk factors, early warning signs, and therapeutic and screening approaches, and their correlated determinants.Methods. In a cross-sectional study, 2250 women before participating at a community based screening and public educational program in an institute of cancer research in Isfahan, Iran, in 2012 were investigated using a self-administered questionnaire about risk factors, early warning signs, and therapeutic and screening approaches of BC. Latent class regression as a comprehensive statistical method was used for evaluating the level of knowledge and its correlated determinants.Results. Only 33.2%, 31.9%, 26.7%, and 35.8% of study participants had high awareness levels about screening approaches, risk factors, early warning signs and therapeutic modalities of breast cancer, respectively, and majority had poor to moderate knowledge levels. Most effective predictors of high level of awareness were higher educational qualifications, attending in screening and public educational programs, personal problem, and family history of BC, respectively.Conclusion. Results of current study indicated that the levels of awareness among study population about key elements of BC are low. These findings reenforce the continuing need for more BC education through conducting public and professional programs that are intended to raise awareness among younger, single women and those with low educational attainments and without family history.

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Level of knowledge, attitudes and interest of Turkish high school students towards cancer

Health Education Journal ◽

10.1177/0017896920923724 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 79 (8) ◽

pp. 875-887

Author(s):

Ilgin Yildirim Usta ◽

Armagan Ateskan

Keyword(s):

Risk Factors ◽

High School ◽

High School Students ◽

Private School ◽

Cancer Education ◽

Carcinogenic Risk ◽

School Students ◽

Negative Attitudes ◽

Cancer Risk Factors ◽

Level Of Knowledge

Objective: This study investigated Turkish high school students’ knowledge about risk factors for cancer, their interest in the disease, and their affective and behavioural attitudes towards it. Design: Quantitative survey. Setting: Data collection took place in three private schools in Central Turkey and one private school in Eastern Turkey. Method: Students ( N = 275; 56% female students, 44% male students) completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire and described their level of knowledge regarding cancer risk factors, as well as their attitudes and interest in the disease. For data analysis, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, v.24.0) was used. Results: Results indicated that most students succeeded in identifying nearly all carcinogenic (except for overweight) and non-carcinogenic risk factors. In addition, while most participants held negative attitudes towards cancer, they typically did not exhibit cancer protective behaviours, and most participants were not interested in cancer as a topic. Conclusion: Exploring high school students’ levels of knowledge, attitudes and interests in regard to cancer may provide curriculum developers with information that enables the development of effective cancer education for Turkish high school students.

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