Alqahtani Jaber S
Department of Respiratory Care, Prince Sultan Military College of Health Sciences, Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Ann Thorac Med. 2025 Jul-Sep;20(3):169-175. doi: 10.4103/atm.atm_224_24. Epub 2025 Feb 10.
For the early detection and prevention of lung cancer, it is critical to know how smokers are aware of warning signs, symptoms, and risk factors for this disease.
A cross-sectional study was conducted in Saudi Arabia to evaluate the smokers' awareness of lung cancer's signs, symptoms, and risk factors.
Only 54% of smokers recruited ( = 1317) were aware of lung cancer symptoms with 56% of smokers expressing low confidence in recognizing them. The commonly missed symptoms include persistent shoulder pain (38%), prolonged cough (49%), and finger shape changes (49%). Around 73% were aware of lung cancer risk factors and the top known risk factors were smoking (75%), radon gas (65%), and air pollution (57%). Male and light smokers had higher knowledge scores of lung cancer signs and symptoms compared to female and heavy smokers (7.82 ± 4.0 vs. 6.34 ±2.9, < 0.001, and 7.66 ± 3.9 vs 6.98 ± 4.0, = 0.023, respectively). Furthermore, male and light smokers had significantly greater lung cancer awareness of risk factors than female and heavy smokers ( < 0.001). A significant positive correlation exists between the identifying signs and symptoms and knowing lung cancer risk factors ( = 0.71, < 0.001).
Heavy smokers are more likely to be unaware of lung cancer warning signs, symptoms, and risk factors than light smokers. Over 55% of smokers lacked confidence in recognizing lung cancer symptoms. Public health measures should address the specific needs of heavy and light smokers, including tailored health education initiatives considering regional and social support differences.
对于肺癌的早期检测和预防而言，了解吸烟者如何知晓该疾病的警示信号、症状和风险因素至关重要。
在沙特阿拉伯开展了一项横断面研究，以评估吸烟者对肺癌体征、症状和风险因素的认知情况。
纳入的吸烟者中（n = 1317），仅有54%知晓肺癌症状，56%的吸烟者表示识别这些症状的信心不足。常见被漏认的症状包括持续性肩痛（38%）、长期咳嗽（49%）和手指形状改变（49%）。约73%的人知晓肺癌风险因素，最广为人知的风险因素是吸烟（75%）、氡气（65%）和空气污染（57%）。与女性和重度吸烟者相比，男性和轻度吸烟者对肺癌体征和症状的知晓得分更高（分别为7.82±4.0对6.34±2.9，P<0.001；以及7.66±3.9对6.98±4.0，P = 0.023）。此外，男性和轻度吸烟者对肺癌风险因素的知晓程度显著高于女性和重度吸烟者（P<0.001）。识别体征和症状与知晓肺癌风险因素之间存在显著正相关（r = 0.71，P<0.001）。
与轻度吸烟者相比，重度吸烟者更有可能不了解肺癌的警示信号、症状和风险因素。超过55%的吸烟者在识别肺癌症状方面缺乏信心。公共卫生措施应满足重度和轻度吸烟者的特定需求，包括考虑地区和社会支持差异的针对性健康教育举措。
