Everything causes cancer? Beliefs and attitudes towards cancer prevention among anti-vaxxers, flat earthers, and reptilian conspiracists: online cross sectional survey

Abstract

Objective To evaluate, using an online non-probability sample, the beliefs about and attitudes towards cancer prevention of people professing vaccination scepticism or conspiracy theories. Design Cross sectional survey. Setting Data collected mainly from ForoCoches (a well known Spanish forum) and other platforms, including Reddit (English), 4Chan (English), HispaChan (Spanish), and a Spanish language website for cancer prevention (mejorsincancer.org) from January to March 2022. Participants Among 1494 responders, 209 were unvaccinated against covid-19, 112 preferred alternative rather than conventional medicine, and 62 reported flat earth or reptilian beliefs. Main outcome measures Cancer beliefs assessed using the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) and Cancer Awareness Measure Mythical Causes Scale (CAM-MYCS) (both validated tools). Results Awareness of the actual causes of cancer was greater (median CAM score 63.6%) than that of mythical causes (41.7%). The most endorsed mythical causes of cancer were eating food containing additives or sweeteners, feeling stressed, and eating genetically modified food. Awareness of the actual and mythical causes of cancer among the unvaccinated, alternative medicine, and conspiracy groups was lower than among their counterparts. A median of 54.5% of the actual causes was accurately identified among each of the unvaccinated, alternative medicine, and conspiracy groups, and a median of 63.6% was identified in each of the three corresponding counterparts (P=0.13, 0.04, and 0.003, respectively). For mythical causes, medians of 25.0%, 16.7%, and 16.7% were accurately identified in the unvaccinated, alternative medicine, and conspiracy groups, respectively; a median of 41.7% was identified in each of the three corresponding counterparts (P<0.001 in adjusted models for all comparisons). In total, 673 (45.0%) participants agreed with the statement “It seems like everything causes cancer.” No significant differences were observed among the unvaccinated (44.0%), conspiracist (41.9%), or alternative medicine groups (35.7%), compared with their counterparts (45.2%, 45.7%, and 45.8%, respectively). Conclusions Almost half of the participants agreed that “It seems like everything causes cancer,” which highlights the difficulty that society encounters in differentiating actual and mythical causes owing to mass information. People who believed in conspiracies, rejected the covid-19 vaccine, or preferred alternative medicine were more likely to endorse the mythical causes of cancer than their counterparts but were less likely to endorse the actual causes of cancer. These results suggest a direct connection between digital misinformation and consequent erroneous health decisions, which may represent a further preventable fraction of cancer.

Common myths and misconceptions about breast cancer causation among Palestinian women: a national cross-sectional study

“…In addition, the authors found a high proportion of participants (86%) who believed that using mobile phones strongly increases the risk of cancer [ 10 ], similar to this study (78.8%). Moreover, Palestinian women could recognize the myths as incorrect causes of BC less than the actual risk factors of BC [ 8 ], similar to the results of a previous study that demonstrated the difficulty to distinguish the actual causes of cancer from mythical causes as a result of misinformation on the news and social networks [ 32 ].…”

“…Despite numerous BC awareness campaigns in Palestine, there is a substantial need to promote Palestinian women’s knowledge about BC causation myths utilizing more innovative and culturally tailored methods. In addition, training healthcare professionals on how to educate women to be able to distinguish between evidence-based versus mythical BC causes is warranted [ 32 ]. Moreover, more information about BC mythical causes should be available to the Palestinian public through reliable websites such as the website of the Ministry of Health.…”

“…The multivariable analyses adjusted for age-group, educational level, occupation, monthly income, marital status, place of residency, having a chronic disease, knowing someone with cancer, and site of data collection. This model was determined a priori based on previous studies [ 8 , 9 , 12 , 14 , 28 , 32 – 34 ].…”

Myths and common misbeliefs about cervical cancer causation among Palestinian women: a national cross-sectional study

“…The multivariable analyses adjusted for age-group, educational level, employment status, monthly income, marital status, place of residency, having a chronic disease, knowing someone with cancer, and site of data collection. This model was determined a priori based on previous studies [ 9 , 10 , 13 – 15 , 32 , 33 ].…”

Health scares: Tracing their nature, growth and spread

“…Health scares can be rapidly transmitted on informal social networks spreading further anxiety and negative expectations in a community ( Southwell et al, 2019 ). Research suggests that individuals who hold strong conspiracy beliefs also are more likely to believe that some of the same factors that are commonly associated with health scares also cause cancer, such as eating genetically modified food and microwave ovens ( Paytubi et al, 2022 ). The transmission of these beliefs can establish negative expectations that may subsequently produce a nocebo effect when the individual has been exposed to the focus of concern ( Crichton, Dodd, et al, 2014 ).…”