Amin Tarek Tawfik, Al-Hammam Abudllah Mohammed, AlMulhim Nasser Abdullah, Al-Hayan Mohammed Ibrahim, Al-Mulhim Mona Mohammed, Al-Mosabeh Modhahir Jawad, Al-Subaie Mohammed Ali, Al-Hmmad Qassem Ahmed, Al-Omran Ahmed Adi
Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt E-mail :
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2014;15(6):2597-606. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2014.15.6.2597.
There is a scarcity of information about the proportion of the adult Saudi population that meet the recommended guidelines of physical activity (PA) to reduce cancer risk. Moreover, their awareness about the role of PA in cancer prevention is unclear.
This cross-sectional study aimed at estimating the proportion of adult Saudis meeting the PA guidelines, specifically those recommended by American Cancer Society (ACS) for cancer prevention, and to assess the public awareness about the role of PA in cancer prevention.
Using a multistage sampling method, 2,127 adult Saudis of both genders were recruited from 6 urban and 4 rural primary health care centers in Al Hassa, Saudi Arabia. Participants were personally interviewed to gather information about their sociodemographic characteristics, searching activity about PA and cancer, and the time spent in leisure time PA (moderate and vigorous)/week using the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire with show cards. Finally, items about the role of PA in cancer risk reduction were inquired.
Of the included participants, 11.6% met the recommendations for cancer prevention (≥ 45 minutes of moderate-vigorous PA activity/≥ 5 days/week or 225 minutes/week). Multivariate regression showed that being male (AOR=1.49, CI=1.09-2.06), <20 years of age (AOR=3.11, CI=2.03-4.76), and unemployed (AOR=2.22, CI=1.57-3.18) were significant predictors for meeting PA recommendations for cancer prevention. Only 11.4% of the sample indicated correctly the frequency and duration of PA required for an average adult to be physically active and while >70% of them indicated the role of PA in prevention of hypertension, coronary heart disease and lowering elevated blood cholesterol, only 18.6% and 21.7% correctly mentioned the role of PA in reducing colon and breast cancer risk, respectively. Poor knowledge was found among those with less than college education and aged ≥ 50 years. The level of knowledge was significantly positively correlated with total leisure time PA of the participants.
A minority of adult Saudis in Al Hassa was aware about the role of PA in cancer prevention and engaged in sufficient LTPA for cancer risk reduction benefits, highlighting the need for public health actions to include policies and programs that address factors deterring their participation in LTPA and increasing their awareness with remedies to manage the prevalent misconceptions.
关于沙特成年人口中达到降低癌症风险的身体活动（PA）推荐指南比例的信息匮乏。此外，他们对PA在癌症预防中作用的认识尚不清楚。
这项横断面研究旨在估计符合PA指南的沙特成年人比例，特别是美国癌症协会（ACS）推荐的用于癌症预防的指南，并评估公众对PA在癌症预防中作用的认识。
采用多阶段抽样方法，从沙特阿拉伯哈萨的6个城市和4个农村初级卫生保健中心招募了2127名成年沙特男女。通过个人访谈收集参与者的社会人口学特征、关于PA和癌症的搜索活动，以及使用带展示卡的全球身体活动问卷询问他们每周用于休闲PA（中等强度和剧烈强度）的时间。最后，询问了关于PA在降低癌症风险中作用的问题。
在所纳入的参与者中，11.6%符合癌症预防建议（每周进行≥45分钟的中等至剧烈PA活动/≥5天或每周225分钟）。多变量回归显示，男性（调整后比值比[AOR]=1.49，可信区间[CI]=1.09 - 2.06）、年龄<20岁（AOR=3.11，CI=2.03 - 4.76）和失业（AOR=2.22，CI=1.57 - 3.18）是符合癌症预防PA建议的显著预测因素。样本中只有11.4%正确指出了普通成年人保持身体活跃所需的PA频率和持续时间，虽然超过70%的人指出了PA在预防高血压、冠心病和降低高胆固醇血症方面的作用，但只有18.6%和21.7%的人分别正确提到了PA在降低结肠癌和乳腺癌风险方面的作用。在受教育程度低于大学且年龄≥50岁的人群中发现知识水平较差。知识水平与参与者的总休闲PA时间显著正相关。
哈萨的成年沙特人中少数人意识到PA在癌症预防中的作用，并进行了足够的休闲PA以获得降低癌症风险的益处，这突出表明需要采取公共卫生行动，包括制定政策和计划，解决阻碍他们参与休闲PA的因素，并提高他们的认识，纠正普遍存在的误解。
