Environmental factors and awareness of colorectal cancer in people at familial risk.
Luis Arturo Pacheco-Pérez, Karla Judith Ruíz-González, Aldo César Gómez de-la-Torre-Gómez and 3 others
PMID 31618388WHAT IT FOUND
Among 80 people at familial risk for colorectal cancer, age, alcohol, smoking, diet and BMI were not associated with awareness.
Only 50% knew family history raises risk, and 13.8% felt confident spotting symptoms.
Key findings
01No statistically significant association was found between age, alcohol use, tobacco smoking, food intake or BMI and colorectal cancer risk awareness.
02Only 50% of participants knew that having a close family member diagnosed with colorectal cancer is a risk factor, and 13.8% reported confidence in detecting signs and symptoms.
0341.2% were overweight, 45% reported alcohol dependence symptoms, and 90% did not smoke.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it can describe associations at one time point but cannot show that lifestyle factors cause low awareness or that education would change awareness. The methods and the tables/results report different participant counts, so the analysed sample is unclear. The authors note a small sample, incomplete institutional records and difficulty locating eligible people. The colorectal cancer awareness measure was not validated in Spanish for this study; the authors say no Spanish-validated version was found. The study did not test an intervention, so it cannot support efficacy of any prevention or education programme.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 50% family-history awareness or 13.8% symptom-confidence figures as proof that education works. This was a cross-sectional survey of relatives of colorectal cancer patients; it found no significant association between age, alcohol, smoking, diet or BMI and awareness and did not test a nursing intervention.