Policy, Location and Access in Community Environments (PLACE) Research Lab, School of Public Health, Edmonton Clinic Health Academy, University of Alberta, 11405 - 87 Ave, Edmonton, AB, T6G 1C9, Canada.
BMC Public Health. 2021 Jun 2;21(1):1047. doi: 10.1186/s12889-021-11065-4.
Beliefs about causes and responsibility for chronic diseases can affect personal behaviour and support for healthy policies. In this research we examined relationships between socio-demographics (sex, age, education, employment, political alignment, perceived health, household income, household size) and perceptions of causes and responsibility for health behaviour, chronic disease correlates, and attitudes about cancer prevention and causes.
Using data from the 2016 Chronic Disease Prevention survey in which participants (N = 1200) from Alberta, Canada responded to items regarding how much they believed personal health behaviours, prevention beliefs, and environmental factors (i.e., healthy eating, physical activity, alcohol, smoking, and where a person lives or works) are linked to getting cancer. Participants also responded to questions about causes and responsibility for obesity, alcohol, and tobacco (i.e., individual or societal). Relationships were examined using multinomial logistic regression on socio-demographics and survey items of interest.
Men (compared to women) were less likely to link regular exercise, or drinking excessive alcohol, to reducing or increasing cancer risk. Similarly, men were less likely to link environmental factors to cancer risk, and more likely to agree that cancer was not preventable, and that treatment is more important than prevention. Finally, men were more likely to believe that alcohol problems are an individual's fault. Left and central voters were more likely to believe that society was responsible for addressing alcohol, tobacco, and obesity problems compared to right voters. Those with less than post-secondary education were less likely to believe that regular exercise, maintaining a healthy body weight, or eating sufficient fruits and vegetables were linked to cancer - or that society should address obesity - compared to those with more education. Households making above the median income (versus below) were more likely to link a balanced diet with cancer and were less likely to think that tobacco problems were caused by external circumstances.
These results provide insight into the importance of health literacy, message framing, and how socio-demographic factors may impact healthy policy. Men, those with less education, and those with less income are important target groups when promoting health literacy and chronic disease prevention initiatives.
对慢性病的病因和责任的信念会影响个人行为和对健康政策的支持。在这项研究中，我们研究了社会人口统计学因素（性别、年龄、教育、就业、政治立场、感知健康、家庭收入、家庭规模）与对健康行为、慢性病相关因素以及癌症预防和病因的看法之间的关系。
利用 2016 年加拿大艾伯塔省慢性病预防调查的数据，参与者（N=1200）回答了与个人健康行为、预防信念以及环境因素（即健康饮食、体育活动、饮酒、吸烟和居住或工作地点）与患癌症的关联程度有关的问题。参与者还回答了关于肥胖、酒精和烟草的原因和责任的问题（即个人或社会）。使用多变量逻辑回归分析了社会人口统计学因素和感兴趣的调查项目之间的关系。
与女性相比，男性不太可能将定期锻炼或饮酒过量与降低或增加患癌风险联系起来。同样，男性不太可能将环境因素与癌症风险联系起来，更有可能认为癌症无法预防，治疗比预防更重要。最后，男性更有可能认为酒精问题是个人的错。左派和中派选民比右派选民更有可能认为社会应该解决酒精、烟草和肥胖问题。与受过高等教育的人相比，未受过高等教育的人不太可能认为定期锻炼、保持健康体重或食用足够的水果和蔬菜与癌症有关——或认为社会应该解决肥胖问题。收入高于中位数（而非低于中位数）的家庭更有可能将均衡饮食与癌症联系起来，而不太可能认为烟草问题是由外部环境引起的。
这些结果提供了对健康素养、信息框架以及社会人口因素如何影响健康政策的重要性的见解。在促进健康素养和慢性病预防计划时，男性、教育程度较低的人群和收入较低的人群是重要的目标群体。
