Abstract

Background: Despite promising medical advancements and treatment, cancer is still a significant threat to our society. Hence, this study is undertaken to evade severe public health issues related to cancers. Objectives: The aim of the study was to increase the awareness among the general population in field practice areas about risk factors of prevalent cancers and its prevention with the following objectives: (1) To determine the types of highly prevalent cancers among the patients attending Government General Hospital (GGH), Kurnool. (2) To know the public awareness about risk factors and prevention of cancers. (3) To educate the population about risk factors of prevalent cancers and their prevention.
Materials and Methods: Study design: Information collected from January 1, 2014, to April 30, 2014, from the Department of Radiotherapy, GGH, Kurnool, to reveal the district’s morbidity pattern, the predominant type of cancers, followed by a community-based cross-sectional study to assess population awareness. Permissions from Institutional Ethics Committee and Head of the Department of Radiotherapy was obtained before starting of the study. Informed consent was taken from the study participants in the community. Statistics: Data analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007, presented results in the form of percentages and proportions.
Results: The predominant types of cancers identified were cervical, breast, and lung cancers based on information collected from 81 registered cases. The community-based cross-sectional study revealed meager public awareness about cervical cancer, the importance of Pap smear testing, and self-breast examination in both rural and urban field practice areas.
Conclusions: Educational intervention was conducted to increase public awareness about cervical cancer, the importance of Pap smear testing, and self-breast examination.