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. 2022:44:e2022068.
doi: 10.4178/epih.e2022068. Epub 2022 Aug 26.

Awareness of and practice toward cancer prevention recommendations: results of the Korean National Cancer Prevention Awareness and Practice Survey in 2021

Jin-Kyoung Oh  1   2 , Eunjung Park  2 , Byungmi Kim  1   2 , Yoon-Jung Choi  1   2 , E Hwa Yun  1   2 , Min Kyung Lim  1   2 , Jeong-Soo Im  1 , Eun Young Park  1
Affiliations

Awareness of and practice toward cancer prevention recommendations: results of the Korean National Cancer Prevention Awareness and Practice Survey in 2021

Jin-Kyoung Oh et al. Epidemiol Health. 2022.

Abstract

Objectives: This study reports data regarding the awareness and practice of cancer prevention among Koreans in 2021 and behavioral changes during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods: We collected Cancer Prevention Awareness and Practice Survey data through face-to-face interview surveys using a structured questionnaire completed by 4,000 randomly selected men and women aged between 20 years and 74 years in 17 provinces. We examined the awareness and practice of 10 cancer prevention recommendations and evaluated their associations with potential risk factors through multiple logistic regression analysis adjusted for age, gender, residence, marital status, education, and income.

Results: Eighty percent of participants knew that cancer is preventable, while 45% practiced cancer prevention. Cancer prevention practice tended to be more common among older participants (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.39 per 10-year increment; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.29 to 1.49) and less common among rural inhabitants (aOR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.51 to 0.86) than among urban residents and among single people (aOR, 0.55; 95% CI, 0.45 to 0.66) than among married people. Practices were the highest for avoiding burned or charred foods (87.6%) and lowest for vaccination against human papillomavirus (14.5%). Refusal to follow recommendations was most common for avoiding alcohol consumption (7.9%). The most difficult recommendations to follow were (1) regular exercise (57.7%); (2) maintaining a healthy body weight (46.1%); and (3) avoiding alcohol (40.1%). The most significant COVID-19-related changes were less exercise (32.5%) and increased body weight (25.6%).

Conclusions: The awareness of cancer prevention was high, but the practice was low. Recommendations targeting awareness and practice need to be further promoted.

Keywords: Awareness; COVID-19; Cancer; Korea; Practice; Primary prevention.

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Conflict of interest statement

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare for this study.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of related factors of awareness and practice of cancer prevention. aORs were mutually adjusted for age, gender, residential area, marital status, education level, and monthly income. Values are presented as aOR (95% CI).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Rates of recommendations selected as easiest (A) and most difficult (B) to follow. HBV, hepatitis B virus; HPV, human papillomavirus; STI, sexually transmitted infection.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Awareness and practice of each cancer prevention recommendation, 2007-2021. ASR, age-standardized rates; HBV, hepatitis B virus; HPV, human papillomavirus. *p<0.05.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Changes in health behaviors during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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