Correlates of U.S. Young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer

Although alcohol increases the risk of cancer, awareness of alcohol-related cancer risks is low. Alcohol use is prevalent among young adults, and understanding factors associated with awareness and perceptions of alcohol-related cancer risks in this group is critical for cancer prevention efforts. W...

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Autores principales: Long, Lauren, Alalwan, Mahmood A., Keller-Hamilton, Brittney, Slater, Michael D., Mays, Darren
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8941251/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35340270
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101765
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author Long, Lauren
Alalwan, Mahmood A.
Keller-Hamilton, Brittney
Slater, Michael D.
Mays, Darren
author_facet Long, Lauren
Alalwan, Mahmood A.
Keller-Hamilton, Brittney
Slater, Michael D.
Mays, Darren
author_sort Long, Lauren
collection PubMed
description Although alcohol increases the risk of cancer, awareness of alcohol-related cancer risks is low. Alcohol use is prevalent among young adults, and understanding factors associated with awareness and perceptions of alcohol-related cancer risks in this group is critical for cancer prevention efforts. We examined the demographic, tobacco, and alcohol related correlates of young adults’ awareness and perceptions of alcohol as a behavioral risk factor for cancer. We completed a secondary analysis of data collected in February 2020 in the U.S. from 1,328 young adults (ages 18–30) who completed a cross-sectional online survey. Participants reported (1) awareness of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer and (2) perceived risks of serious disease such as cancer. We analyzed demographic characteristics, alcohol use, and tobacco use associated with these outcome variables using multivariable regression. Overall, 18.5% of participants believed that alcohol does not increase cancer risk. Perceived cancer risk associated with alcohol use was moderate (M 3.2, SD 1.6, 1–7 scale). In multivariable analysis, awareness of risk was significantly higher among those with higher socioeconomic status. Perceived risk was significantly greater among those with higher socioeconomic status, higher alcohol consumption, and a history of tobacco use. These findings indicate research is warranted to better understand awareness of alcohol as a behavioral risk factor for cancer and associated beliefs in subgroups of young adults to help guide the development of interventions to raise awareness of the risks of cancer associated with alcohol use.
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spelling pubmed-89412512022-03-24 Correlates of U.S. Young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer Long, Lauren Alalwan, Mahmood A. Keller-Hamilton, Brittney Slater, Michael D. Mays, Darren Prev Med Rep Regular Article Although alcohol increases the risk of cancer, awareness of alcohol-related cancer risks is low. Alcohol use is prevalent among young adults, and understanding factors associated with awareness and perceptions of alcohol-related cancer risks in this group is critical for cancer prevention efforts. We examined the demographic, tobacco, and alcohol related correlates of young adults’ awareness and perceptions of alcohol as a behavioral risk factor for cancer. We completed a secondary analysis of data collected in February 2020 in the U.S. from 1,328 young adults (ages 18–30) who completed a cross-sectional online survey. Participants reported (1) awareness of alcohol as a risk factor for cancer and (2) perceived risks of serious disease such as cancer. We analyzed demographic characteristics, alcohol use, and tobacco use associated with these outcome variables using multivariable regression. Overall, 18.5% of participants believed that alcohol does not increase cancer risk. Perceived cancer risk associated with alcohol use was moderate (M 3.2, SD 1.6, 1–7 scale). In multivariable analysis, awareness of risk was significantly higher among those with higher socioeconomic status. Perceived risk was significantly greater among those with higher socioeconomic status, higher alcohol consumption, and a history of tobacco use. These findings indicate research is warranted to better understand awareness of alcohol as a behavioral risk factor for cancer and associated beliefs in subgroups of young adults to help guide the development of interventions to raise awareness of the risks of cancer associated with alcohol use. 2022-03-15 /pmc/articles/PMC8941251/ /pubmed/35340270 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101765 Text en © 2022 The Authors https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Regular Article
Long, Lauren
Alalwan, Mahmood A.
Keller-Hamilton, Brittney
Slater, Michael D.
Mays, Darren
Correlates of U.S. Young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer
title Correlates of U.S. Young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer
title_full Correlates of U.S. Young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer
title_fullStr Correlates of U.S. Young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer
title_full_unstemmed Correlates of U.S. Young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer
title_short Correlates of U.S. Young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer
title_sort correlates of u.s. young adults’ awareness of alcohol use as a behavioral risk factor for cancer
topic Regular Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8941251/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35340270
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101765
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