Al-Azri Mohammed, Al-Hamedi Ibtisam, Al-Awisi Huda, Al-Hinai Mustafa, Davidson Robin
Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman E-mail :
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2015;16(7):2731-7. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2015.16.7.2731.
The majority of deaths from cancer occur in low and middle income countries, partly due to poor public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer.
A community based survey using the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) questionnaire was conducted in three different communities in Oman. Omani adults aged 18 years and above were invited to participate in the study.
A total of 345 responded from 450 invited participants (response rate=76.7%). The majority of respondents were unable to identify the common signs and symptoms of cancer identified in the CAM (average awareness was 40.6%). The most emotional barrier to seeking help was worry about what the doctor might find (223, 64.6%); a practical barrier was too busy to make an appointment (259, 75.1%) and a service barrier was difficulty talking to the doctor (159, 46.1%). The majority of respondents (more than 60% for seven out of ten symptoms) would seek medical help in two weeks for most signs or symptoms of cancer. Females were significantly more likely than males to be embarrassed (p<0.001), scared (p=0.001), and lack confidence talking about their symptoms (p=0.022).
Urgent strategies are needed to improve public awareness of the signs and symptoms of cancer in Oman. This might leads to earlier diagnosis, improved prognosis and reduced mortality from cancer.
大多数癌症死亡发生在低收入和中等收入国家，部分原因是公众对癌症的体征和症状认识不足。
在阿曼的三个不同社区开展了一项基于社区的调查，使用癌症认知量表（CAM）问卷。邀请18岁及以上的阿曼成年人参与研究。
450名受邀参与者中共有345人做出回应（回应率=76.7%）。大多数受访者无法识别CAM中确定的癌症常见体征和症状（平均认知率为40.6%）。寻求帮助时最主要的情感障碍是担心医生可能发现的情况（223人，占64.6%）；实际障碍是太忙而无法预约（259人，占75.1%），服务障碍是与医生交谈困难（159人，占46.1%）。大多数受访者（十种症状中的七种超过60%）在出现大多数癌症体征或症状时会在两周内寻求医疗帮助。女性比男性更有可能感到尴尬（p<0.001）、害怕（p=0.001）以及在谈论自己的症状时缺乏信心（p=0.022）。
阿曼迫切需要采取策略提高公众对癌症体征和症状的认识。这可能会导致癌症的早期诊断、改善预后并降低癌症死亡率。
