Awareness of health sciences students about colorectal cancer risk factors

Abstract

Objective This descriptive study was conducted in order to determine the risk factors, symptoms and awareness of health sciences students with regards to colorectal cancer (CRC). Methods This study included 1,028 health science students from two different universities. Data for this study were collected via a questionnaire form that included questions about CRC risk factors, protective approaches and symptoms. Frequencies, percentages and averages of the data were assessed with Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results The most frequent risk factors of the students (mean age: 21.25 years) were smoking (90.5%), excessive alcohol consumption (87.4%), family history of cancer (84.2%) and obesity (82.6%), while the most common protective approaches were smoking cessation, avoiding alcohol, regular physical activity and a low‐fat diet. There was a significant difference in the CRC awareness of students in terms of gender, the department and grade level at which they were studying, and having a family history of cancer. Conclusion Results of this study revealed that students had a sufficient awareness about risk factors and what they could do to diminish their risk, but their knowledge about CRC symptoms was less than expected. We believe that health sciences students should be given more education on CRC symptoms.

Growth Factors, PI3K/AKT/mTOR and MAPK Signaling Pathways in Colorectal Cancer Pathogenesis: Where Are We Now?

“…In addition, fish, fibers, and milk consumption reduce the risk of colon cancer [ 39 ]. Among students, the most important factors for CRC development are smoking (90.5%), excessive alcohol consumption (87.4%), family history of cancer (84.2%), and obesity (82.6%) [ 40 ]. The results of a prospective study regarding the effect of diet on CRC development were published in 2020.…”

Serum exosomal hsa-circ-0004771 modulates the resistance of colorectal cancer to 5-fluorouracil via regulating miR-653/ZEB2 signaling pathway

“…2 A). Previous studies have demonstrated that some factors such as age, sex, BMI, the history of smoking, drinking, and familial inheritance could increase the risk of CRC [ 57 – 61 ]. Therefore, before the comparison of serum derived exosomal hsa-circ-0004771 levels between different groups, we first confirmed that the risk factors mentioned above (the baseline data) were not different between the groups (Table 1 ), which guaranteed the uniformity between the groups.…”

Colorectal Cancer and the Role of the Gut Microbiota—Do Medical Students Know More Than Other Young People?—Cross-Sectional Study

“…An analysis of the data conducted by the authors of the present study showed a statistically significant difference between the number of correctly given answers in the area of knowledge of CRC symptoms and the type of university attended by the students surveyed (medical, non-medical). In a study by Ustundag et al [ 39 ], health sciences students included blood in the stool ( n = 750; 73%), rectal bleeding ( n = 743; 72.3%), unintentional weight loss ( n = 686; 66.7%) and fatigue ( n = 656; 63.8%) among the most common symptoms of CRC. The problem of altered bowel frequency, including diarrhea and constipation, was indicated by 53.2% of respondents ( n = 547).…”