A survey on the awareness of pancreatic cancer in singapore

Abstract

Awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of pancreatic cancer plays a crucial role in the early prevention and detection of pancreatic cancer. The present study aims to assess the awareness of pancreatic cancer in Singapore and to recommend measures to encourage regular health screening. A survey was developed based on the UK Cancer Awareness Questionnaire and was conducted online using Google Survey. Data obtained was analyzed using Microsoft excel. 68.5% of respondents were unable to correctly identify at least 7 out of 9 symptoms associated with pancreatic cancer. 61.6% of respondents were unable to recognize more than 9 risk factors associated with pancreatic cancer. Higher ratio of the low scoring respondents was found in the respondents above 40 years and/or received lower education (‘O-level’ certificate), suggesting an association between level of awareness with socio-economic factors. Medical cost (65.7%) was the most selected reason as to why respondents would not seek medical help. The results concluded that improvements can be made to increase pancreatic cancer awareness, and strategies should be tailored to all ages and level of education. In addition, more effort needs to be placed on reducing medical cost to encourage patients to attend regular health screening.