INTRODUCTION Colorectal Cancer (CRC) ranked as the second most common cancer among Saudis. In 2007, there were 9347 incidences of all cancer types among Saudis.

Question 6: You can reduce the risk of developing colorectal cancer by: Question 7: It is recommended to screen for colorectal cancer starting from the age of: Question 11: What is the best method for early detection of colorectal cancer?

Overview of Responses to Our Survey

METHODS This is a prospective survey-based study. Eleven-question Arabic surveys were conducted at Alfaisal University’s CRC awareness booth during Saudi Aramco Summer Festival, 2011. The survey examined the booth visitors’ background knowledge about CRC in five aspects: • Epidemiology in KSA • Symptoms • Prevention Descriptive statistics were used in the analysis of the study results.

Measuring the Level of Colorectal Cancer Awareness among Members of the Saudi Community Mohammed R. AlSadoon; Mohamed D. Ray-zack; Asim I. Mahmod; Asem O. Daghistany;

Mohammed-Adeeb Sebai; Mohamad M. Hejazi; M. Hasan Rajab .. College of Medicine, Alfaisal University

1259

907

703

586 566

436

412

309

229 283

259 208 189 149 Breast Cancer

COLO-RECTAL CancerNHLThyroid CancerLeukemiaLiver CancerLung CancerHodgkin diseaseStomach CancerSkin CancerProstate CancerBladder CancerCorpus uteriOvarian CancerFigure 1. Top ten common cancers in Saudis, 2007[1]

The purpose of the study: To measure the level of awareness of the Saudi community about CRC.

RESULTS

Question 1: What is the most prevalent cancer in men in Saudi Arabia?

Question 3: Colorectal cancer is:

97

Saudi: 93%

Male: 72%

Mean Age (yrs):

34.1 ± 11.2 Range: 18-72

354 Not all questions were answeredcompletely

All questions were answeredcompletely

Figure 3. Sample size & demographics; following the selection criteria, 354 out of 451 records were qualified for analysis

17.2 18.4

24

18.1

22.3

0

10

20

30

40

50

lung cancer

prostate cancer

colorectal cancer[CORRECT]leukemia

I don't know

Only 24% of participants correctly chose “colorectal cancer”.

8.2

14.7

28

17.2

31.9

0

10

20

30

40

cancer occuring to the glandswithin the intestines [CORRECT]polyps in the colon

cancer or tumors in thesmall intestineirritable bowel syndrome

I don't know

Only 8.2% of participants correctly answered that colorectal cancer is a cancer occurring to the glands within the intestines.

Figure 4. Percentages of chosen answers to survey’s question number one by the survey takers

Figure 5. Percentages of chosen answers to survey’s question number three by the survey takers

Figure 7. Percentages of chosen answers to survey’s question number seven by the survey takers

Figure 8. Percentages of chosen answers to survey’s question number eleven by the survey takers

Only 25% of participants correctly chose “colonoscopy” as the method of choice for early detection of colorectal cancer.

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11Question number

Figure 11. Overview on the percentages of correct answers, given by the survey-takers, to our CRC awareness survey

On average, participants were able to answer 30% of all questions correctly.

Figure 6. Percentages of chosen answers to survey’s question number six by the survey takers

Only 13.6% of participants correctly answered that screening for colorectal cancer is recommended to start at the age of 50.

%

%

Figure 10. Colonoscopic view of a malignant tumor of the colon

(Courtesy of Feldman et al)

Figure 9. A colonoscope (Courtesy of Matlock Endoscopic Repair)

Figure 2. Anatomical position of the colon (Courtesy of Milton Hershey Medical Center)

4.2

70.6

4

21.2

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

waiting for the appearance of a specificsymptom of the disease and thencheck-up at the specialist's clinicscreening for colorectal cancer[CORRECT]

I cannot reduce the risk of developingcolorectal cancer

I don't know

13.3

25.1

13.6

26.6

21.4

0

10

20

30

40

50

30 years

40 years

50 years [CORRECT]

There is no specific age to startscreening

I don't know

Only 70.6% of participants correctly answered that screening for colorectal cancer reduces the risk of developing this disease.

%

%

%

• Risk factors • Screening

REFERENCES 1. Cancer Incidence and Survival Report Saudi Arabia 2007. Saudi Cancer Registry, KSA. 2. Sanderson et al. Assessing colorectal cancer screening knowledge at tribal fairs. Prev Chronic Dis 2011;8(1). 3. Power et al. Assessing awareness of colorectal cancer symptoms: Measure development and results from a population survey in the UK. BMC Cancer 2011 11:366. 4. Gimeno-Garcı´a A.Z., Quintero E., Nicola´s-Pe´rez D., Jime´nez-Sosa A. Public awareness of colorectal cancer and

screening in a Spanish population. 2011. The Royal Society for Public Health. 5. Cotterchio et al. Colorectal screening is associated with reduced colorectal cancer risk: a case-control study within

the population-based Ontario Familial Colorectal Cancer Registry. Division of Preventive Oncology, Cancer Care Ontario, Toronto, Canada. 2005.

25

45.6

29.4

0

10

20

30

40

50

colonoscopy [CORRECT]

Other methods (FOBT,Diagnostic MRI, ColoredCT scans, Self-reportingcolon test)

I don't knowA Selection of Survey Questions