Sociodemographics and their impacts on risk factor awareness and beliefs about cancer and screening: results from a cross-sectional study in Newfoundland and Labrador ...

• Main Authors: Shi, Fuyan, Shaver, Lance G, Kong, Yujia, Yi, Yanqing, Aubrey-Bassler, Kris, Asghari, Shabnam, Etchegary, Holly, Adefemi, Kazeem, Wang, Peizhong P
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central 2020
• Subjects: Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0394724; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0394724

Background: Our objective was to examine cancer risk factor awareness and beliefs about cancer treatment, outcomes, and screening, and how these are mediated by sociodemographic variables, among Newfoundland and Labrador residents. Methods: Participants aged 35 to 74 were recruited through Facebook advertising, and a self-administered online questionnaire was used to collect data. Descriptive statistics, Spearman rank correlations, and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed. Results: Of the 1048 participants who responded and met the inclusion criteria for this study, 1019 were selected for this analysis. Risk factor recognition was generally good, though several risk factors had poor awareness: being over 70 years old (53.4% respondents aware), having a low-fiber diet (65.0%), and drinking more than 1 unit of alcohol per day (62.8%). Our results showed that the participants’ awareness of risk factors was significantly associated with higher income level (rs = 0.237, P < 0.001), higher ...