Polish High School Students’ Knowledge about Cancer

Abstract

Background: Cancer, as the second most common cause of death after cardiovascular diseases, is a global health problem. There is still an increasing number of cancer incidences and deaths. Methods: The study was conducted as a part of the health promotion educational project concerning oncological education to develop the knowledge of cancer risk factors among high school students in Poland. A special questionnaire was filled out by students before the educational lesson on cancer conducted by medical students and young doctors. Results: The study was carried out on 227 high school students (aged 17–18 years). Most students (67.5%) indicated that genetic predisposition is the most important cancer risk factor. Only about a quarter of students pointed to the relationship between lifestyle and cancer. Moreover, 41% of students admitted to smoking cigarettes. Most of them (80.6%) claimed that they can modify their own cancer risk. Almost all responders believed that early detected cancer is curable. Conclusions: High school students do not know about cancer risk factors and they do not relate cancer with lifestyle. Some students indicated bad lifestyle habits such as tobacco smoking. It is necessary to emphasize cancer prevention in early education, especially focusing on modification of lifestyle.

Cancer knowledge related to nutrition among medical students

“…This percentage was near our correct answers regarding alcohol (81.3% and 93.0 % of answers of the students from Riyadh and Jeddah, respectively). A recent study conducted among Polish high school adolescents revealed that no one knew that drinking alcohol can be a risk factor of cancer, and only a very few participants related diets (2.2%) as one of cancer risk factors (Rucinska et al, 2021). On the other hand, more than four-fifths and one-half of our samples linked between alcohol use and physical inactivity with risk of cancer, respectively.…”

“…On the other hand, more than four-fifths and one-half of our samples linked between alcohol use and physical inactivity with risk of cancer, respectively. The Polish study found that a much smaller percentage (0.9%) of their participants identified such an association (Rucinska et al, 2021). The cause of such a very low rate from the Polish study may be due to differences between the target populations.…”

Quanto você Sabe sobre Câncer de Mama? Avaliação do Nível de Conhecimento da População Brasileira

“…Outro ponto positivo do questionário é que a maioria dos participantes (98%) está ciente da importância do diagnóstico precoce, o que vai ao encontro das respostas obtidas por Rucinska et al 12 , em que 96,5% dos participantes do estudo realizado com estudantes do ensino médio acreditavam que o diagnóstico precoce aumenta as chances de cura.…”

I Choose Health. It is OncoLogical!—Informative and Educational Campaign Dedicated to the High School Students in Poland

“…While there are researches reporting poor knowledge of polish high school students about cancer risk factors, there are some educational programs intended to fulfill this gap—mainly based on community activity of medical students and dedicated to a limited number of students [ 14 ].…”

“…Therefore, despite various modifications to high schools curricula in recent years, the cancer prevention literacy level among polish students is still unsatisfactory [ 14 ]. Further, the lack of regular physical activity in schools hampers efforts of medical professionals and significantly affects development of chronic diseases according to the US Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) [ 15 ].…”