Abstract

Public Knowledge and Awareness of Risk Factors and Symptoms of Colorectal Cancer among Saudi General Population: A Population-Based Survey

Introduction: In Saudi Arabia, CRC is the most common type of cancer among men and the third most common type among women. The highest rates of CRC were found to be in the regions of Dammam, followed by Riyadh, Makah, Qassim, and Tabuk.

Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of colorectal cancer awareness among the general population in Saudi Arabia.

Methodology: This was a community-based cross-sectional study conducted from April to May 2020. An online administered questionnaire was used for data collection and SPSS (version 24) was used for data analysis.

Result: A total of 1612 respondents (819 males and 793 females) were recruited for the study. The participants aged from 18 to 65 years and most of them were married (71.5%). The majority had inadequate knowledge about colorectal cancer. Among our respondents, half of them (52.1%) had heard the term “CRC”. The majority of them (85.5%) had not been diagnosed with CRC and about two-thirds of the participants (63.5%) did not know anyone with CRC. Less than half (40.9%) of the respondents don’t know whether CRC is contagious or not, and about thirds reveal that it is not contagious. Around two-thirds (61.8%) of the participants revealed no idea about the preventable nature of CRC and only (14.2%) believe that colorectal cancer is preventable and half of them (49.4%) believe that it is treatable and 35.3% revealed that CRC could be fatal.

Conclusion: In conclusion, there are low levels of knowledge of CRC, about awareness of its symptoms and risk factors. There is a necessity for educational creativities and awareness campaigns to increase the general public’s awareness of CRC symptoms and risk factors in Saudi Arabia.

• Full-Text
• PDF