Assessment Of Awareness And Practice Regarding Cancer Risk Prevention In Hail Region, Saudi Arabia

Over the past few years, Saudi Arabia witnessed increasing incidence rates of several cancers. Thus, the present study aimed to assess the awareness and practice regarding cancer risk prevention in the Hail region, Saudi Arabia.This descriptive cross-sectional assessment involved 429 Saudi civilians living in Ha'il, Northern Saudi Arabia. We recruited 429 volunteers during the period from February to October 2020.The participants were randomly picked from different public gathering places in the city of Hail. On asking the participants, "Do you know what cancer is?" about 24/429(6%) answered "No," 15 were with bachelors degree (BSc), seven were with basic education level, and 2 with masters degree (MSc). On the question "How did you know about cancer," most participants knew cancer via social media followed by when a relative diagnosed with cancer, medical events constituting 172(40%), 143(33%), and 59 (14%), correspondingly. For the question "what cancer means," around 186(43%) answered "Death," including 126 BSc, 36 basic, and 16 basics. About 95(22%) answered "depression".The awareness and knowledge related to general cancers are relatively acceptable in Northern Saudi Arabia. There are increased levels of exposure to tobacco smoking and agricultural related chemicals in Hail region, Northern Saudi Arabia. Planning of a wide-ranging cancer prevention program is deemed necessary in Northern Saudi Arabia.