Awareness of the mythical causes of cancer in central Uganda: a community cross-sectional survey.

IF 2.1

Cancer causes & control : CCC Pub Date : 2026-09-11 DOI:10.1007/s10552-026-02249-7

Nicholas Matovu, Helen G Coleman, Gerald Mutungi, Michael Donnelly, Brian T Johnston, Maurice B Loughrey, Alfred Jatho, Noleb M Mugisha, Charlene M McShane

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Abstract

Purpose: Misconceptions about cancer causes may undermine prevention efforts, yet they remain poorly studied in Africa. This study assessed awareness of mythical cancer causes among adults in central Uganda.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 428 adults (≥ 18 years) in central Uganda using multistage random sampling. Participants completed a modified Cancer Awareness Measure-Mythical Causes Scale. Good awareness was defined as correctly identifying at least 10 of 20 mythical causes. Descriptive and non-parametric analyses examined awareness and associated factors.

Results: Participants had a mean age of 36.5 ± 14.5 years, and 61.2% were female. Awareness of mythical cancer causes was extremely low; only 1.6% correctly identified at least half of the items, with a mean score of 2.4/20 (12%). The most commonly endorsed myth was that "eating food cooked in a polythene bag" causes cancer (95.3%). Lower awareness was associated with older age, being married, and lower education, while having a relative with cancer was associated with better recognition of myths (p < 0.05).

Conclusions: Misconceptions about cancer causes were widespread in this Ugandan population. Cancer awareness initiatives should promote evidence-based risk factors while dispelling common myths, particularly among older and less-educated populations, to strengthen cancer prevention.

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乌干达中部对癌症神秘原因的认识：一项社区横断面调查。

目的：对癌症原因的误解可能会破坏预防工作，但在非洲对它们的研究仍然很少。这项研究评估了乌干达中部成年人对神秘的癌症原因的认识。方法：采用多阶段随机抽样方法，对乌干达中部地区428名≥18岁的成年人进行社区横断面调查。参与者完成了修改后的癌症意识测量-神秘原因量表。良好的意识被定义为正确识别20个神话原因中的至少10个。描述性和非参数分析检查了意识和相关因素。结果：参与者平均年龄36.5±14.5岁，61.2%为女性。人们对神秘的癌症病因的认识极低；只有1.6%的人正确识别了至少一半的项目，平均得分为2.4/20（12%）。最常见的误解是“吃用塑料袋煮熟的食物”会致癌（95.3%）。较低的认知与年龄较大、已婚、受教育程度较低有关，而有癌症亲属与较好的认知神话有关（p < 0.05）。结论：对癌症病因的误解在乌干达人群中普遍存在。提高癌症意识的举措应促进以证据为基础的风险因素，同时消除常见的误解，特别是在老年人和受教育程度较低的人群中，以加强癌症预防。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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Cancer causes & control : CCC

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