Public awareness of colon cancer screening among the general population: A study from the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Screening for colon cancer aims at early detection and prompt treatment of the disease. Prior knowledge of the disease will contribute to increased participation. However, barriers to performing screening are not known. Methods: A survey using a questionnaire was presented to patients attending the Outpatient Department of a tertiary hospital in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia, to evaluate the background knowledge of colon cancer screening, the diagnostic methods used for that purpose, and the barriers that may resist the implementation of screening. Results: Six hundred and nineteen questionnaires were distributed. Completed questionnaires that were included in the final analysis numbered 321 (51.9%). Age and gender had no statistically significant association with increased awareness of screening options (p = 0.526 and p = 0.2). However, education played a significant role (p = 0.045). Among the group that agreed to undergo screening, there were 55.3% who were willing to undergo colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy. Contrary to that, among the group that did not agree to undergo screening, 77.4% of them would undergo radiological screening using barium enema and/or a computed tomography (CT) scan of the abdomen. Conclusion: There is a deficiency of knowledge of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening influenced by an individual's level of education, yet unrelated to age or gender. The endoscopic modality was usually chosen by individuals who were aware of CRC screening. However, the fear of undergoing this investigation, for the same reason, would likely make them decide to choose less invasive testing, using barium enema or a CT of the abdomen.الوعي العام بفحوصات الكشف عن سرطان القولون بين عامة السكان دراسة من المنطقة الغربية في المملكة السعودية العربيةالملخصالأهداف: يهدف الكشف المبكر عن سرطان القولون إلى التعرف على المرض وعلاجه مبكرًا. وتسهم المعرفة المسبقة بالمرض في تحسين المشاركة في الفحص وزيادة فاعليته. ولكن العوائق التي تمنع مشاركة الناس في الفحص المبكر غير معلومة.الطريقة: أجريت استبانة للمرضى في قسم العيادات الخارجية بأحد المستشفيات المرجعية في المنطقة الغربية من المملكة العربية السعودية لتقييم معلوماتهم العامة حول الفحص المبكر عن سرطان القولون، وطرق التشخيص المستخدمة لهذا الغرض, وكذلك معرفة العوائق التي قد تمنعهم من المشاركة فيه. النتائج: وزعت 619 استبانة, ولم يتضمن التحليل النهائي سوى الاستبانات المكتملة بشكل يتوافق مع متطلبات البحث وعددها 312 (51,9%). لم يكن للعمر أو الجنس أي دلالة إحصائية مرتبطة بزيادة الوعي (p = 0.526 وp = 0.2)، وذلك بعكس المستوى التعليمي الذي أظهر ارتباطًا وثيقًا بزيادة الوعي والاهتمام بإجراء الفحص المبكر للقولون (p = 0.045). اتضح أنه من بين المجموعة التي وافقت على المشاركة في إجراء الفحص، أبدى 55,3 % استعدادهم لإجراء منظار القولون أو المستقيم. بينما أظهرت النتائج أن 77,4 % من المجموعة التي رفضت المشاركة في الفحص، يفضلون إجراء الفحص الإشعاعي باستخدام حقنة الباريوم و/أو التصوير المقطعي للبطن كوسيلة للفحص المبكر. خاتمة: يوجد نقص في الوعي والمعرفة العامة بفكرة الفحص المبكر لسرطان القولون والمستقيم، ويرتبط ذلك بالمستوى التعليمي ولكن لا صلة له بعاملي العمر أو الجنس. المعرفة المسبقة با...

Barriers to colorectal cancer screening in Asia: A systematic review

“…This is of extreme importance as many people are highly influenced by physicians in health decision making [14,18]. Interestingly, Leung et al [13] discovered that the poor dissemination of CRC information among the [6], Farooqui et al [7], Hilmi et al [8], Kong et al [9], Loh et al [10], Yusoff et al [11], Koo et al [5], Harmy et al [12], Leung et al [13], Foo et al [14], Deng et al [15], Javadzade et al [16], Khayyat et al [17], Tastan et al [18], Salimzadeh et al [19], Salimzadeh et al [20] Abdullah et al [21], Ahmad et al [22] 18 Negative perspective towards screening methods (fear, pain, embarrassment, health damage, lack of confidence in test efficacy, inconvenient)…”

“…Sung et al [6], Farooqui et al [7], Loh et al [10], Yusoff et al [11], Harmy et al [12], Foo et al [14], Javadzade et al [16], Wong et al [23], Khayyat et al [17], Tastan et al [18], Wong et al [24], Abdullah et al [21], Ahmad [22] 13 'Ostrich strategy'-aversion to facing test results Sung et al [16], Loh et al [10], Yusoff et al [11], Harmy et al [12], Foo et al [14], Javadzade et al [16], Wong et al [23], Bae et al [25], Tastan et al [18], Wong et al [24], Ahmad [22] 11 Financial constraints, lack of insurance coverage Sung et al [6], Farooqui et al [7], Yusoff et al [11], Koo et al [5], Harmy et al [12], Foo et al [14], Deng et al [15], Wong et al [23], Tastan et al [18], Wong et al [24], Abdullah et al [21], Ahmad [23] study subjects, who comprised of Chinese people, were partly attributable to the cultural aversion towards topics regarding the bowel, displaying fecal aversion behavior. This is particularly eminent among the elderly folk.…”

Public awareness of central nervous system tumors in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…3,25 Other published studies for cancer awareness in the KSA have focused on non-specified cancer awareness, breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and oral cancer. [26][27][28][29][30] Comparable to the data from this study, the top recognized warning signs of brain tumors in the United Kingdom were vomiting and headaches. 3 Recently, the frequencies of symptoms experienced by CNST patients were investigated.…”

“…Consequently, this survey, like other cancer awareness investigations in the KSA, had an underlying partiality for including mainly young, educated females, raising concerns about the lack of involvement of males and the elderly. [26][27][28][29][30]41 This lack of involvement could be a potential barrier for the improvement of cancer and CNST awareness for these groups. Thus, there is a need to create a national population database in the KSA that can be utilized for health-related studies.…”

Knowledge and utilization of colorectal cancer screening in Saudi society

“…12,20 Moreover, due to lack of knowledge, the Saudi population is less likely to undergo screening for CRC than for other screening-amenable tumours, such as breast and cervical cancer. 21 More than half (50.3 per cent) the respondents were unaware that the screening program for CRC was available in SA.…”