Cancer symptom and risk factor awareness in Malaysia: findings from a nationwide cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Cancer incidence in Malaysia is expected to double by 2040. Understanding cancer awareness is important in order to tailor preventative efforts and reduce the cancer burden. The objective of this research was to assess nationwide awareness about the signs and symptoms as well as risk factors for various cancers in Malaysia and identify socio-demographic factors associated with awareness. Methods:This cross-sectional study was conducted from March-November 2014 in the form of a telephone survey. Participants aged 40 years and above were randomly selected across Malaysia and interviewed using the validated Awareness Beliefs about Cancer (ABC) measurement tool. Linear regression was conducted to test the association between symptom and risk factor recognition and socio-demographic variables. Results: A sample of 1895 participants completed the survey. On average, participants recognised 5.8 (SD 3.2) out of 11 symptoms and 7.5 (SD 2.7) out of 12 risk factors. The most commonly recognised symptom was 'lump or swelling' (74.5%) and the most commonly recognised risk factor was 'smoking' (88.7%). Factors associated with prompted awareness were age, ethnicity, education and smoking status.Conclusion: Recognition of symptom and risk factors for most cancers was relatively low across Malaysia compared to previous studies in high-income countries and to studies conducted in Malaysia. There is a need to conduct regular public health campaigns and interventions designed to improve cancer awareness and knowledge as a first step towards increasing the early detection of cancer.

Awareness of Common Cancer Risk Factors and Symptoms in Saudi Arabia: A Community-Based Study

“…Unexplained weight loss and appetite loss were selected by around a third of the studied sample. This is supported by a study where around a third of participants saw unexplained weight loss as an early warning sign of cancer (Schliemann et al, 2020). Only 16% of our sample selected persistent cough or painful breathing as a cancer symptom, while Sharma et al, (2019) study revealed that around half of their respondents (228 participants) believed that a persistent cough or a hoarse voice could be early warning signs of cancer.…”

“…In the current study, unexplained pain was the most identified symptom for cancer symptoms, followed by unexplained weight loss, loss of appetite, bleeding, and persistent cough and painful breathing. More than half of the studied sample linked cancer with pain, in line with the findings of Schliemann et al, (2020). Unexplained weight loss and appetite loss were selected by around a third of the studied sample.…”

“…The present study revealed that smoking is the most recognised risk factor for cancer, selected by 71% of the sample. This is supported by Al-Azri et al, (2014) and Schliemann et al, (2020) which mentioned smoking as the highest risk factor for cancer. The public generally has a high level of knowledge of the dangers of smoking due to ongoing campaigns to raise awareness about smoking's consequences on people's health (Van Mourik, 2020).…”

Treatment outcome of newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients: A retrospective analysis in a resource-limited setting

“…We found similar results as other studies [19,25,26]. More than half of our patients presented at late stage and this is higher than what was reported elsewhere in the world, reflecting possible lack of awareness of this disease in our general population [25][26][27].…”

An assessment of knowledge, attitude, and practice of the Kuantan community on the effects of monosaccharides on cancer

“…14 It has been reported that majority of Malaysian female university students had insufficient knowledge on several breast cancer risk factors. 15 Another study on Iranian adult women also showed that respondents possessed low awareness of breast cancer risk factors. 16 The Kuantan community showed positive attitude toward the association of monosaccharides with cancer.…”