IJCM₁53A: Assessment of cancer awareness and health-seeking behavior among residents of Arang block, Raipur, Chhattisgarh.

Background: Cancer is one of the major NCDs and is emerging as a major health problem globally with over 10 million new cases and more than 6 million deaths (12% of all deaths) every year. Cancer has become one of the leading causes of death in India. There is need to document public awareness about the early warning signs of cancer, its risk factors and health seeking behavior in Arang block of Raipur district, Chhattisgarh. Objective: To find out the status of cancer awareness and health-seeking behavior among residents of Arang block, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted among residents of Arang block of Raipur district, Chhattisgarh during August-October 2023. The study sample size was 288. Face-to-face interview was done through a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Data were entered into the Microsoft excel spread sheet and analysis is being done by using statistical software. Results: This study showed that nearly 114(40%) in the age group of 21-30 years and majority of the participants belong to low SES 198(68%), awareness of warning signs was low, where pain (43%), swelling or lump (41%), and weight loss (37%) were the most recognized symptoms. The most commonly reported barriers were the following: being too scared (65.6%), worrying about the other things (60.76%) and too busy to go for the treatment (55.9%). Conclusion: The study has identified low levels of awareness of cancer warning signs, a wide range of barriers to attendance and a high level of anticipated delay in seeking help for possible cancer symptoms.