Raising Awareness for Lung Cancer Prevention and Healthy Lifestyles in Female Scholars from a Low-Income Area in Bogota, Colombia: Evaluation of a National Framework

This study aims to determine the effects of an educational intervention, based on the Colombian guidelines for educational communication in the framework of cancer control, for raising lung cancer prevention-related awareness, and improving healthy lifestyles in female scholars from a low-income area in Bogota, Colombia. Uncontrolled trial conducted in 243 female scholars (mean age 14 years ± 1.5 SD). Two 90 min educational sessions were carried out in March 2015 according to the Colombian guidelines for educational communication in the framework of cancer control. Posters and other educational materials were created by scholars after the intervention. All participants completed a self-reported questionnaire—The Cancer Awareness Measure—at pre and post-intervention, as well as 1, 3, and 6 months after the intervention. Smoking prevalence (8.2% at baseline) was reduced by 3.7% at 6 months follow-up (p  less than  0.005). The scholars exhibited low to moderate awareness of both warning signs and risk factors for lung cancer at baseline. These variables showed statistically significant improvements at 6 months follow-up (p  less than  0.005). Similar improvements were also found for physical activity, high-fat diet, and fruits and vegetable intake. This evaluation of the Colombian guidelines for educational communication in the framework of cancer control raised awareness towards lung cancer prevention, reduced smoking, and improved other healthy-lifestyle-related factors in a group of female scholars from a low-income area in Bogota, Colombia. Further randomized controlled studies are needed. © 2017, The Author(s).

• Fecha de publicación: 2018
• Institución: Universidad del Rosario
• Repositorio: Repositorio EdocUR - U. Rosario
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:repository.urosario.edu.co:10336/22272
• Acceso en línea: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-017-1246-z; https://repository.urosario.edu.co/handle/10336/22272
• Palabra clave: Adolescent; Attitude to health; Child; Colombia; Early cancer diagnosis; Female; Health education; Healthy lifestyle; Human; Lung tumor; Procedures; Psychology; Adolescent; Child; Colombia; Early detection of cancer; Female; Health education; Healthy lifestyle; Humans; Lung neoplasms; Prevention; Risk factor; Skin cancer; Sun protection; attitudes; practice; Health knowledge
• License: Abierto (Texto Completo)