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Cancer Awareness and Understanding of Students in Japan: What Do Students Having Close Relatives with Cancer Think About the Disease?

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Abstract

Students have become more familiar with cancer because of media, such as television or the Internet, reporting on celebrity cancer cases. Moreover, with Japan’s increasing age and cancer rates, the number of students whose parents/relatives develop cancer is likely to increase. This study examined cancer awareness and understanding among students aged 10 to 16 or more. A cross-sectional nationwide survey was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire. Cancer awareness and cancer understanding were assessed using a self-administered questionnaire. We collected a total of 9139 questionnaires and excluded those with missing data. Thus, we analyzed the responses of 8701 students: 2135, 2902, and 3664 from elementary, junior, and high school, respectively. Data were analyzed using a multivariable model adjusted for gender and grade. Approximately 30% of respondents had parents/relatives with cancer. In addition, there was a significant association between having parents/relatives with cancer and cancer awareness; however, students having parents/relatives with cancer had more negative awareness (i.e., “I think cancer is scary,” “I think I will get cancer in the future,” and “I think cancer is preventable”). Furthermore, there was a significant association between cancer understanding and awareness. These findings suggest that cancer education could have a desirable effect on students whose parents/relatives have cancer. Further, cancer education offers benefits to students who are naive about cancer and ill prepared to cope when a family member discloses a cancer diagnosis.

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Acknowledgments

Gratitude is expressed to the students who participated in this survey and the concerned officials in the cooperating school.

Funding

This work was financially supported by Clinical Cancer Research for Health Labour Sciences Research Grants of the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan and JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18H00998.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health and Sports, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, 1398, Shimamicho, Kita-Ku, Niigata City, Niigata Prefecture, 950-3198, Japan

    Koshu Sugisaki

  2. Faculty of Liberal Arts, University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Japan

    Seiji Ueda

  3. Faculty of Sports and Health Sciences, Japan Women’s College of Physical Education, Setagaya-ku, Japan

    Hiroko Yako-Suketomo

  4. College of Education, Yokohama National University, Yokohama City, Japan

    Hirofumi Monobe

  5. Faculty of Education, Ibaraki University, Mito City, Japan

    Masaru Ueji

  6. School of Physical Education, Tokai University, Hiratsuka City, Japan

    Ryoichi Mori

  7. Faculty of Education, Tokyo Gakugei University, Koganei City, Japan

    Masaki Watanabe

  8. The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Japan

    Takashi Eto

Authors
  1. Koshu Sugisaki
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  2. Seiji Ueda
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  3. Hiroko Yako-Suketomo
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  4. Hirofumi Monobe
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  5. Masaru Ueji
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  6. Ryoichi Mori
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  7. Masaki Watanabe
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  8. Takashi Eto
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Koshu Sugisaki.

Ethics declarations

We received approval from the ethics committee of Niigata University of Health and Welfare before conducting the study. Moreover, the survey was carried out once participants were informed that their anonymity and freedom to participate would be guaranteed, as outlined in the survey manual. The front page of the survey form stated the survey objectives and procedures; moreover, participant anonymity, the fact that participation in the survey would not affect school grades, and the freedom to participate in and withdraw from the study were also clearly explained in the survey.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Sugisaki, K., Ueda, S., Yako-Suketomo, H. et al. Cancer Awareness and Understanding of Students in Japan: What Do Students Having Close Relatives with Cancer Think About the Disease?. J Canc Educ 36, 92–99 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01602-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-019-01602-6

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