Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Measures, 2012: Special Licence Access

DOI

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) was developed in 2007-8 to address the absence of a validated measure of general public awareness of cancer (Stubbings, S., Robb, K., Waller, J., Ramirez, A., Austoker, J., Macleod, U., Hion, S., and Wardle, J. (2009) 'Development of a measurement tool to assess public awareness of cancer', British Journal of Cancer, 101(2), S13-S17.).The survey includes measures of awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer, cancer risk factors, age-related risk, screening programmes and potential barriers to seeing the GP. Since then, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has significantly revised and updated the survey, including a wider range of questions and collecting data online instead of face-to-face. 

The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) is a survey designed to assess public awareness of cancer warning signs/symptoms, cancer risk factors and barriers to help seeking. Data have been collected every two years from 2008 from a representative face to face sample of the population of Great Britain via the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.  Patients with cancer in the UK tend to present with more advanced disease and have poorer survival rates than their European counterparts. One of the work streams set out in the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI), which was established under the Department of Health's Cancer Reform Strategy for improving cancer outcomes, has focused on developing a validated standardised measure for the general population, comprising a set of questions designed to reliably assess cancer awareness. The purpose of the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) is to facilitate accurate and sensitive surveillance of public awareness of cancer over time, identify information needs, and monitor the impact of campaigns promoting cancer awareness and early presentation. It helps to develop an in-depth understanding of current awareness, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in relation to cancer. Further information about the CAM may be found on the Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Measures (CAMs) webpage.

Main Topics:The CAM questionnaires address the following topics: public awareness of cancer symptoms public knowledge of cancer risk factors barriers and enablers to help seeking uptake of screening programmes barriers to cancer screening (cervical, breast and bowel)experience of breast and cervical cancer screening symptom experience co-morbiditiesperception of symptom seriousness help seeking behaviours including remote consultation and re-presentation perceptions of remote consultation demographic variables including health behaviours such as smoking and fruit and vegetable consumption.From 2021 onwards, the questionnaire also covers:impact of COVID-19 on help seeking behaviourperceptions of safety from COVID-19 in different medical settings.The Special Licence version of the CAM dataset includes more detailed data on symptoms, risk factors and reasons for delay. Users should check the standard End User Licence (EUL) version of the study to see whether it meets their research needs before making an application for the Special Licence version.

Public awareness of cancerCancer risk factorsBarriers to help seeking

Multi-stage stratified random sample

Face-to-face interview

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.bjc.6605385
Metadata Access https://datacatalogue.cessda.eu/oai-pmh/v0/oai?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_ddi25&identifier=aacf3406f51d04b32edf064f399e9b7455ba2a0fd6a2a11ba12555c9f148905a
Provenance
Creator Cancer Research UK
Publisher UK Data Service
Publication Year 2022
Funding Reference Cancer Research UK
Rights <a href="https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/information-management/re-using-public-sector-information/uk-government-licensing-framework/crown-copyright/" target="_blank">© Crown copyright</a>. The use of these data is subject to the <a href="https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/app/uploads/cd137-enduserlicence.pdf" target="_blank">UK Data Service End User Licence Agreement</a>. Additional restrictions may also apply.; <p>The Data Collection is available to UK Data Service registered users subject to the <a href="https://ukdataservice.ac.uk/app/uploads/cd137-enduserlicence.pdf" target="_blank">End User Licence Agreement</a>.</p><p>Commercial use is not permitted.</p><p>Use of the data requires approval from the data owner or their nominee. Users must apply for access via a Special Licence application.</p>
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Numeric
Discipline Economics; Social and Behavioural Sciences
Spatial Coverage Great Britain