Analysis of Cancer Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices in Adolescents and Young Adults in Two Texas Rural Communities

Abstract

The Youth and Young Adults Cancer Knowledge Attitudes and Practices (C-KAP) exploratory study in 2 rural underserved areas in a border community. C-KAP is an interdisciplinary research pilot project led by university scholars in psychology and social work in partnership with community partners. The exploratory cross-sectional mix-method study recruited 141 (n =141) youth and young adults (ages 18-39). This study was informed on empirical research and a bilingual online questionnaire was field-tested, and data was collected via QuestionPro Software. Quantitative analysis was conducted using SPSS version 27. Descriptive statistics and frequency analysis were used for demographics and basic statistics. Chi square tests and Fisher’s exact tests between variables were ran to find statistically significant associations. For the qualitative data, independent coders conducted recurrent content analysis to identify themes. Salient themes include knowledge about cancer types; access to health care; prevention; and the perceived impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Findings highlight a lack of knowledge and orientation on cancer in youth and young adults suggesting the need for community tailored education and screening interventions. Other findings reflect gender differences in knowledge and practices, which indicates that a gender-specific lens is needed when delivering education.

Knowledge of common cancers among new-entry health science students in Japan and Vietnam

“…Other sources of information, such as friends, teachers, newspapers, and magazines, had lower utilization rates in both countries. These findings are consistent with another study conducted in the United States, which found that young adults predominantly sought cancer information through social media platforms [ 24 ]. Understanding these preferences and identifying reliable and user-friendly information sources is essential for effectively reaching out to young adults.…”

“…This is expected since breast cancer and endometrial cancer are female-specific cancers. Some studies also showed that female students had higher recognition of HPV infection, uterine cancer, and breast cancer than male students [ 10 , 18 , 24 ]. Similarly, female medical students were found to have significantly better knowledge of HPV infection than male medical students [ 25 ].…”

Вплив Превентивної Освіти На Подолання Психологічних Бар’єрів Відношення До Онкохвороб

“…Хоча інформацію про норми здоров'я легко отримати, пошук інформації щодо скринінгу та профілактики раку не є достатньо простим і зрозумілим. Тому превентивна освіта має сприяти поширенню відповідної інформації для охоплення широких верств населення країни [7].…”

Knowledge, attitudes, and practice toward glioma of patients with neurological symptoms or diseases in henan, China

“…Previous studies revealed that the KAP toward cancer in general was very variable among different populations [ [10] , [11] , [12] , [13] , [14] ], including cancer screening [ [14] , [15] , [16] ]. KAP studies were performed in patients with glioma [ 17 , 18 ] and healthcare providers [ 19 ], but no data are available regarding the KAP toward glioma of patients consulting for neurological symptoms in general.…”