Assessment of the level of knowledge of colorectal cancer among public at outpatient clinics in Serdang Hospital: a survey based study

ABSTRACT

Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the mostcommon gastrointestinal cancers in the world. In the AsiaPacificregion, it is the fastest emerging gastrointestinalcancer. Level of awareness on CRC warning signs and riskfactors in the rural population of Malaysia is reported of verylow. The aim of this study was to assess the level ofknowledge of CRC among the public at medical outpatientclinics in Serdang Hospital. The association between sociodemographicfactors with level of knowledge among therespondents was further studied.Study design: A study was conducted among the non-CRCpatients’ relatives accompanying their relatives to themedical outpatient clinics in Serdang Hospital from 1st Aprilto 31st August 2016. The study was carried out with clustersampling method.Methods: The respondents were assessed using validatedand modified Cancer Awareness Measures (CAM)questionnaire consists of three parts which are knowledgeon warning signs, knowledge on risk factors and sociodemographicfactors. All data were analysed using IBMSPSS Statistics 21.0.Results: Altogether 308 subjects completed thequestionnaires. It was shown high percentage of goodknowledge for warning signs and risk factors of CRC amongthe respondents. A significant association between agegroups and level of income with level of knowledge onwarning signs was observed.Conclusions: The level of knowledge of CRC among thegeneral public in Serdang Hospital was sufficient. Therespondents with higher income or younger age had higherlevel of knowledge regarding CRC.