Enhancing bladder cancer awareness and knowledge through multifaceted community engagement in Egypt: a cross-sectional study.

Abstract

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) poses a significant health challenge in Egypt, constituting 16% of male cancers and resulting in over 7,900 deaths annually. Globally, BC stands as the tenth most prevalent cancer with an anticipated 72.8% rise in new cases by 2040. As BC is an important health problem, early detection and prevention are crucial for improving outcomes. This could be done by increasing the disease's awareness through structured campaigns for the community, increasing their insights about the risk factors of the disease; most commonly, smoking as well as other risk factors as exposure to certain chemicals, alcohol consumption, diet, obesity and schistosomiasis. The awareness includes not only the risk factors but also the most common early symptoms for detection.

Objective: To compare the effect of our awareness campaign about BC in Mansoura, Egypt on the index of awareness measured by our locality-generated simplified questionnaire.

Methods: The campaign featured symposiums, awareness booths and online initiatives that gathered substantial participation. We administered a purpose-designed survey (in either Arabic or English) comprising questions regarding the following: perception of BC as common cancer, BC's risk factors acknowledgement, knowledge about screening and diagnosis, perception of the methods of treatment and the importance of screening. We used face-to-face surveys targeting the public in Mansoura to compare between the index of awareness about BC pre-awareness and post-awareness. In addition, online surveys targeting Egyptian medical students and medical staff were conducted to evaluate their knowledge about BC.

Results: This study was conducted on 1,673 people (n = 304 in-person surveys and n = 1,369 online surveys). Of the 1,673 participants, 52.45% were females; the age of the responders ranged from 18 to 40 years. The mean index of awareness before our awareness in the campaign in the face-to-face phase was 58.52% while the index of awareness after our campaign increased to 94.28%.

Conclusion: The public's post-awareness survey responses revealed an enhancement in awareness of BC and highlighted the campaign's effectiveness in disseminating critical information. Prospective long-term research is proposed to assess such awareness campaigns' impact on patient survival and community burden.