Colorectal cancer in Jordan: prevention and care

Abstract

The aim of this study was to describe the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward colorectal cancer prevention and care in Jordan. A survey was designed to produce reliable estimates for the population's knowledge, attitudes, and practices in all 12 governorates of Jordan by using stratified random sampling. A representative sample of the adult population in Jordan completed a comprehensive tool which explored participants' knowledge about the risk factors associated with colorectal cancer, cancer prevention through lifestyle changes, and early cancer diagnosis and screening. According to the participants (n = 3196), colorectal cancer had the second highest percentage of screening recommendation (12.6%) after breast cancer (57.3%). Only 340 individuals (11%) reported ever screening for cancer. About 20% of the participants had heard of one of the screening tests for colorectal cancer. In fact, only 290 (9.1%) participants had performed the colorectal cancer screening tests. This study provides data that will help colorectal cancer prevention and treatment programs and may enhance the efficiency of colorectal cancer-controlling programs. The findings confirm the necessity of starting colorectal screening intervention that targets the most vulnerable individuals.

An Interventional Study to Improve Colorectal Cancer Screening Knowledge and Health Perceptions among Jordanians' Average Risk Population

“…The current study showed that Jordanian average-risk men and women have a low level of knowledge and need more information to increase their awareness of CRC and the importance of screening. These findings are congruent with previous Jordanian studies [10,21] and international studies [16,22,23] in which investigators reported low levels of knowledge in relation to CRC and screening tests.…”

“…A large proportion of Jordanian participants did not believe they were susceptible to CRC. These findings are congruent with Jordanian studies, which reflect similarly low levels of Jordanians' perceived susceptibility to CRC [10,21]. This could be attributed to the perception of being healthy among Jordanian participants and the absence of any warning clinical manifestations.…”

“…From the researcher's point of view, this could be one of the main reasons for not performing CRC screening. Similarly, Ahmad, Dardas [10] reported that about two-third of their Jordanian participants revealed being free from health problems as a reason for not undergoing a CRC screening test. The majority of Jordanians believe that wellness and illness are attributable to God's will.…”

“…Moreover, they identified physicians and nurses as the least likely sources of information regarding CRC. In addition, Ahmad, Dardas [10] identified the media as the most frequent source of information about CRC screening, and newspapers as the least likely source of information regarding CRC screening. Therefore, there is an urgent need to initiate media campaigns that can effectively change the current views of Jordan's average-risk population about CRC and screening recommendations, thus increasing screening rates.…”

“…Most of the media attention in Jordan had focused on breast cancer programs with little attention for CRC. Furthermore, it was found in a recent study that CRC screening rates were extremely low in a Jordanian adult sample consisted of 3196 participants from all over the country [10]. Therefore, there is a need to investigate these variables and understand the CRC screening practices within the Jordanian culture.…”