Change in children's perception of cancer in the last 10 years in Japan

Abstract

Background Social awareness of cancer can be changed with cancer education and proper distribution of cancer information. This study addressed the current situation and historical changes to children's perception of cancer. Methods Questionnaire surveys were conducted among healthy school children aged 10–15 years in 2008 and 2018. Knowledge of cancer was surveyed and compared with that of asthma, tuberculosis, and measles. The children were asked about their health information resources. Results The numbers of participants and collection rates were 438 and 63.9% in 2008, and 320 and 44.7% in 2018. Children's perception of cancer changed significantly in the last decade. The proportion of respondents answering “cancer affects children” changed from 78.3 to 89.5% (P = 0.0001), “cancer is preventable” from 42.0 to 49.7% (P = 0.0425), and “cancer is curable,” from 52.4 to 66.0% (P = 0.0003). Significantly more junior high school students answered that cancer is preventable than elementary school children in 2018 (55.9 vs 42.7%, P = 0.0028). The major resources of information on health were television, parents, and books. The proportion of children choosing the Internet significantly increased from 15.3 to 47.8% (P < 0.0001). Significantly more junior high school students selected television and the Internet than elementary school children (94.5 vs 86.9%, P = 0.0202 for television; 57.1 vs 37.9%, P = 0.0007 for the Internet). Conclusions The proportion of children correctly perceiving cancer information had increased in the last decade. Junior high school students better understood the information. The Internet is of increasing importance as an information resource for school children.

Perception of Korean healthy adolescents on cancer and adolescent cancer survivors: a cross-sectional survey

“…Despite both Korea and Japan being part of East Asia, a 2018 Japanese study on middle school students' perceptions of cancer revealed discrepancies with our findings for the same age group [ 15 ]. The study showed that more middle school students agreed on the effects of cancer on adolescents and its severity, while the rates of consent on contagiousness, preventability, and curability were lower than those in our study [ 15 ].…”

“…Despite both Korea and Japan being part of East Asia, a 2018 Japanese study on middle school students' perceptions of cancer revealed discrepancies with our findings for the same age group [ 15 ]. The study showed that more middle school students agreed on the effects of cancer on adolescents and its severity, while the rates of consent on contagiousness, preventability, and curability were lower than those in our study [ 15 ]. A big difference in health information resources was also observed between the two countries, with ROK’s main sources being the Internet and television, while that for Japan were television, parents, books, Internet, and teachers [ 15 ].…”

“…In ROK, 10.31% of middle student respondents stated that they obtained information on cancer from their parents, which was the highest among the surveyed diseases. In contrast, in Japan, middle school respondents have relatively diverse health information sources with approximately 70% coming from their parents, 60% from books and the Internet, and 40% from teachers [ 15 ]. The healthcare system in ROK is similar to that in Japan; however, significant differences were observed in the systematicity of school health education system, level of qualification required as an educator, and quantity and quality of education contents, which is believed to be a major contributor to the disparity in health information resources between the two countries [ 19 ].…”

“…The healthcare system in ROK is similar to that in Japan; however, significant differences were observed in the systematicity of school health education system, level of qualification required as an educator, and quantity and quality of education contents, which is believed to be a major contributor to the disparity in health information resources between the two countries [ 19 ]. Since 2017, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology has initiated cancer education programs in schools, providing educational materials [ 15 ]. As a result, 56.3% of elementary schools and 71.4% of middle schools reportedly conducted classes on cancer education in 2018 [ 15 ].…”

“…Since there were no existing reports or an officially developed questionnaires that met the research objectives in ROK, the questionnaire was developed based on a literature review and expert advice. The perception items and the diseases to be compared to cancer were mainly based on the items from the 2008 and 2018 cancer perception surveys conducted in Japan for adolescents aged 10–15 years [ 15 ].…”