South East Asia Community Observatory (SEACO), Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia, Bandar Sunway, Malaysia.
Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Centre for Population Health (CePH), University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2020 Jul;29(4):e13232. doi: 10.1111/ecc.13232. Epub 2020 Feb 12.
The main aims of the study were to identify barriers to seeking help for cancer, appraise demographic and socio-economic differences in relation to barriers and evaluate the association between barriers and cancer symptoms awareness and delayed help-seeking.
A total of 2,360 adults (18 years and above) from randomly selected households in metropolitan Kuala Lumpur completed face-to-face interviews with trained research assistants that incorporated the validated Malay version of the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM). Logistic regression was the main statistical technique that was used to investigate the study objectives and relationships (noted above).
The most commonly reported barriers to help-seeking were emotional barriers. The probability of delaying seeking help was 49% higher in participants who reported emotional barriers (OR = 1.49; CI: 1.32-1.68; p < .001); and each unit rise in the cancer symptom awareness score was associated with a reduced likelihood of 29% in help-seeking delay (OR = 0.71; 95% CI: 0.68-0.74; p < .001).
Our study presents clear evidence of the relationship between cancer awareness and help-seeking; and the need for, and potential positive impact of, providing cancer awareness-raising programmes. Cancer health education campaigns or programme should address emotional barriers and encourage early seeking help.
本研究的主要目的是确定寻求癌症帮助的障碍，评估与障碍相关的人口统计学和社会经济差异，并评估障碍与癌症症状意识和延迟寻求帮助之间的关联。
在吉隆坡都会区随机选择的家庭中，共有 2360 名成年人（18 岁及以上）接受了经过培训的研究助理的面对面访谈，访谈内容包括经过验证的马来语版癌症意识测量（CAM）。逻辑回归是用于调查研究目标和关系的主要统计技术（上述内容）。
寻求帮助时最常报告的障碍是情绪障碍。报告情绪障碍的参与者延迟寻求帮助的可能性高 49%（OR=1.49；95%CI：1.32-1.68；p<0.001）；癌症症状意识评分每增加一个单位，寻求帮助的可能性就会降低 29%（OR=0.71；95%CI：0.68-0.74；p<0.001）。
我们的研究清楚地表明了癌症意识与寻求帮助之间的关系；并且需要提供癌症意识提高计划，并且这种计划可能具有积极影响。癌症健康教育运动或计划应解决情绪障碍问题，并鼓励尽早寻求帮助。
