Increased cancer awareness among British adolescents after a school-based educational intervention: a controlled before-and-after study with 6-month follow-up

TY - JOUR

T1 - Increased cancer awareness among British adolescents after a school-based educational intervention

T2 - a controlled before-and-after study with 6-month follow-up

AU - Kyle, Richard G.

AU - Forbat, Liz

AU - Rauchhaus, Petra

AU - Hubbard, Gill

N1 - © 2013 Kyle et al.

PY - 2013/3/4

Y1 - 2013/3/4

N2 - Background: There is a lack of evidence around the effectiveness of school-based interventions designed to raise adolescents' cancer awareness. To address this deficit this study assessed the impact of an intervention delivered in the United Kingdom by Teenage Cancer Trust on: recall (open question) and recognition (closed question) of cancer warning signs; knowledge of common childhood, teenage, male and female cancers; awareness of the relationship between cancer and age; anticipated medical help-seeking delay; perceived barriers to seeking medical advice about cancer; and examined variation of intervention effect by gender and whether adolescents reported that they knew someone with cancer.Methods: The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) was completed by 422 adolescents (male: 221, 52.4%) aged 11-17 years old (mean age=13.8, standard deviation=1.26) two weeks before and two weeks after the intervention in three schools, and on two occasions four weeks apart in a fourth (control) school. Intervention schools were followed-up 6-months post-intervention.Results: Recognition of nine common cancer warning signs significantly increased two weeks after the intervention (4.6 to 6.8, pConclusions: The intervention is an effective way to raise adolescents' cancer awareness, especially of cancer symptoms. Further development and evaluation is required to maximise intervention impact, particularly on barriers to help-seeking behaviour.

AB - Background: There is a lack of evidence around the effectiveness of school-based interventions designed to raise adolescents' cancer awareness. To address this deficit this study assessed the impact of an intervention delivered in the United Kingdom by Teenage Cancer Trust on: recall (open question) and recognition (closed question) of cancer warning signs; knowledge of common childhood, teenage, male and female cancers; awareness of the relationship between cancer and age; anticipated medical help-seeking delay; perceived barriers to seeking medical advice about cancer; and examined variation of intervention effect by gender and whether adolescents reported that they knew someone with cancer.Methods: The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) was completed by 422 adolescents (male: 221, 52.4%) aged 11-17 years old (mean age=13.8, standard deviation=1.26) two weeks before and two weeks after the intervention in three schools, and on two occasions four weeks apart in a fourth (control) school. Intervention schools were followed-up 6-months post-intervention.Results: Recognition of nine common cancer warning signs significantly increased two weeks after the intervention (4.6 to 6.8, pConclusions: The intervention is an effective way to raise adolescents' cancer awareness, especially of cancer symptoms. Further development and evaluation is required to maximise intervention impact, particularly on barriers to help-seeking behaviour.

KW - DELAY

KW - HEALTH-PROMOTION

KW - MELANOMA

KW - DIAGNOSIS

U2 - 10.1186/1471-2458-13-190

DO - 10.1186/1471-2458-13-190

M3 - Article

C2 - 23496855

SN - 1471-2458

VL - 13

JO - BMC Public Health

JF - BMC Public Health

M1 - 190

ER -