Labisso Wajana Lako, Leka Yishak, Leka Yohannes, Haileselassie Werissaw
Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Department of Pathology, College of Health Sciences and Medicine, Wolaita Sodo University, Wolaita Sodo, Ethiopia.
Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2020 Nov 19;13:2655-2668. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S267207. eCollection 2020.
The general population's lack of awareness, limited knowledge, myths and misconceptions about breast and cervical cancers (CCs) is considered as a serious public health problem.
This study was intended to assess the status of awareness and beliefs of people about cancer and breast and CCs in particular.
A descriptive community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted on 345 study participants in Southern Ethiopia. A pretested, structured questionnaire that contained demographics and questions on the variables of exposure to biological and chemical carcinogenic agents, lifestyle and personal behavior was administered. Frequency distribution and proportions were used to describe the study population in relation to major variables.
The mean age of study participants was 25.19 (Range 15-58). More than a third of the study participants heard about cancer from Mass Media followed by schools (28.5%) and treating physicians (6.7%). The proportion of study participants that knew about the association between smoking, alcohol intake and cancer development was 38.6% and 51.5%, respectively. Only 48% and 24.2% of the study participants heard about breast and CCs, respectively. The fact that 69.4% of the study participants had limited knowledge about the mode of transmission of the causative agents of CCs indicates that the study groups are at risk of acquiring the agent. Additionally, only 4.7% of the study participants were screened for CC and have poor breast self-examination experiences, indicating poor awareness and knowledge about the importance of screening programs.
Comprehensive awareness and knowledge about cancer in general and breast and CCs in particular is lacking in southern Ethiopia. Early sexual debut, limited knowledge about the diseases and unfavorable lifestyle are the risk factors to be addressed in public health education.
普通人群对乳腺癌和宫颈癌缺乏认识、知识有限，存在误解和错误观念，这被视为一个严重的公共卫生问题。
本研究旨在评估人们对癌症，尤其是乳腺癌和宫颈癌的认识及信念状况。
在埃塞俄比亚南部对345名研究参与者进行了一项基于社区的描述性横断面调查。采用了经过预测试的结构化问卷，其中包含人口统计学信息以及关于接触生物和化学致癌剂、生活方式和个人行为等变量的问题。使用频率分布和比例来描述研究人群与主要变量的关系。
研究参与者的平均年龄为25.19岁（范围15 - 58岁）。超过三分之一的研究参与者是通过大众媒体听说癌症的，其次是学校（28.5%）和治疗医生（6.7%）。知道吸烟、饮酒与癌症发生之间关联的研究参与者比例分别为38.6%和51.5%。分别只有48%和24.2%的研究参与者听说过乳腺癌和宫颈癌。69.4%的研究参与者对宫颈癌致病因子的传播方式了解有限，这表明研究群体有感染该致病因子的风险。此外，只有4.7%的研究参与者接受过宫颈癌筛查，且乳房自我检查经验不足，这表明对筛查项目的重要性认识和了解较差。
埃塞俄比亚南部普遍缺乏对癌症，尤其是乳腺癌和宫颈癌的全面认识和知识。初次性行为过早、对疾病的认识有限以及不良的生活方式是公共卫生教育中需要解决的风险因素。
