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. 2019 Jul 23;9(7):e029638.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-029638.

Awareness of risk factors and warning symptoms and attitude towards gastric cancer screening among the general public in China: a cross-sectional study

Qi Liu #  1 , Xi Zeng #  2   3 , Wen Wang  1 , Ruo-Lin Huang  1 , Yan-Jin Huang  1 , Shan Liu  1 , Ying-Hui Huang  1 , Ying-Xin Wang  1 , Qing-Hong Fang  1 , Guoping He  1 , Ying Zeng  4
Affiliations

Awareness of risk factors and warning symptoms and attitude towards gastric cancer screening among the general public in China: a cross-sectional study

Qi Liu et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to assess the knowledge of risk factors and warning symptoms and attitude towards gastric cancer screening among the general population in China.

Setting: Hunan province, China PARTICIPANTS: Individuals aged older than 18 years were recruited using a cluster sampling method.

Design: A cross-sectional study, and a pretested structured questionnaire was used to assess participants' awareness of gastric cancer.

Primary and secondary outcome measures: Knowledge level of risk factors and warning symptoms of gastric cancer, gastric cancer screening attitude, sociodemographic factors associated with gastric cancer knowledge and screening behaviour.

Results: This study comprised 1200 participants with a mean age of 40.31 (SD 16.73) years, of whom 622 (51.8%) were women. The mean score for gastric cancer knowledge was 8.85/22 (SD 6.48). There were 47.0% of the participants who had a low knowledge level about the risk factors and warning symptoms of gastric cancer. In total, 83.8% believed screening is helpful for early detection of gastric cancer, and 15.2% had undergone gastric cancer screening. The most common reason for not undergoing screening was having 'no symptoms' (63.0%), followed by 'fear of undergoing gastroscopy' (38.1%). Independent factors related to lower knowledge levels included male sex, living in rural areas, lower educational level, working as a farmer and without a family history of gastric cancer (p<0.05). Factors independently associated with screening behaviour included white-collar employment, higher income and having upper gastrointestinal tract diseases (p<0.05).

Conclusions: In China, people have poor knowledge about risk factors and warning symptoms of gastric cancer, but a majority have a positive attitude towards the benefits of gastric cancer screening. Being asymptomatic and having a fear of gastroscopy were the main self-reported reasons for not undergoing screening. These results highlight the urgent need for educational campaigns to improve gastric cancer awareness.

Keywords: gastric cancer; knowledge; prevention; screening.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

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