Women's awareness of ovarian cancer risk factors and symptoms in Western Iran in 2020–2021

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to investigate awareness of women living in the western region of Iran about warning signs and risk factors for ovarian cancer. METHODS: This cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study was conducted in Sanandaj and Kermanshah, Iran, 2020 and 2021. In this study, 1081 women aged 18–70 years were selected as the sample to fill out the electronic version of the Ovarian Cancer Awareness Measure (OCAM) to identify the significant variables of ovarian cancer warning signs and risk factors. The obtained data were statistically analyzed by descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression in SPSS 19. RESULTS: In this study, 60.9% of the participants had medium awareness of the subject. The results indicated that participants with higher educational attainment (P < 0.05) and those with a history of cancer (P < 0.001) showed higher knowledge of cancer. The lowest level of awareness of symptoms was associated with acute symptoms such as dysphagia (swallowing problems) most days, persistent bloating, a sense of abdominal fullness or heaviness, and frequent urination. Moreover, the lowest awareness of risk factors was related to the history of IVF treatments and the application of talcum powder to the genital area. CONCLUSION: The study findings showed that women living in the western region of Iran have moderate awareness of ovarian cancer and insufficient knowledge of cancer warning signs; this suggests that it is necessary to train Iranian women to raise awareness of the signs and risk factors for ovarian cancer.