Environmental factors and awareness of colorectal cancer in people at familial risk

OBJECTIVE: to identify the association between environmental risk factors and awareness of colorectal cancer in people at familial risk. METHOD: cross-sectional correlational study, with a sample consisted of people who met at least one of the Revised Bethesda criteria, and 80 participants were included in this study. A sociodemographic data record, the AUDIT Test for alcohol use, the Fagerström Test for tobacco smoking, the Estimation and Frequency of Food Intake scale, and the Cancer Awareness Measure questionnaire to assess the colorectal cancer awareness were used. Body mass index was calculated, and descriptive statistics and the Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient were used to estimate the association. RESULTS: female sex predominated, with an average age of 37.8 years, almost half of the participants were overweight, 45% showed symptoms of alcohol dependence, half of the sample showed an association between hereditary factors and the development of colorectal cancer, and less than half of them were aware of cancer prevention programs. CONCLUSION: there is little information on the main environmental risk factors, signs and symptoms of colorectal cancer, and no significant association was found between these and colorectal cancer awareness.