Table 2.
- Perceptions regarding cancer causes and outcome.
| Perceptions | n (%) | Difference p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cohort 1 | Cohort 2 | ||
| Cancer is contagious: | |||
| Yes (sure, most of the time) | 2 (0.4) | 7 (0.7) | 0.0071 |
| Occasional (occasional, rarely) | 0 (0.0) | 15 (1.6) | |
| No | 462 (99.6) | 930 (97.7) | |
| Cancer is curable: | |||
| Yes (sure, most of the time) | 384 (89.5) | 766 (80.5) | <0.0001 |
| Occasional (occasional, rarely) | 35 (8.2) | 109 (11.4) | |
| No | 10 (2.3) | 77 (8.1) | |
| Cause of cancer: | |||
| Mythical causes * | |||
| Jealousy/envy | 138 (29.7) | 53 (5.6) | <0.0001 |
| Depression | 47 (10.1) | 39 (4.1) | <0.0001 |
| Fate | 115 (24.8) | 193 (20.3) | 0.0534 |
| Evil eye | 6 (1.3) | 315 (33.1) | <0.0001 |
| Medication** | 7 (1.5) | 53 (5.6) | 0.0004 |
| Evil spirit | 1 (0.2) | 49 (5.1) | <0.0001 |
| Curse | 1 (0.2) | 16 (1.7) | 0.0175 |
| Surgery | 1 (0.1) | 2 (.04) | 0.2516 |
| Trauma | 3 (0.6) | 2 (.02) | 0.3381 |
| Stress | 10 (2.2) | 7 (0.7) | 0.0213 |
| Allergy | 6 (1.3) | 6 (0.6) | 0.2233 |
| Giving birth | 3 (0.6) | 5 (0.5) | 0.7218 |
| Scientific causes | |||
| Diet | 38 (8.2) | 98 (10.3) | 0.2071 |
| Infection | 7 (1.5) | 43 (4.2) | 0.0040 |
| Genetic | 7 (1.5) | 34 (3.6) | 0.0298 |
| Smoking | 6 (1.3) | 43 (4.5) | 0.0018 |
| Exposure to radiation | 5 (1.1) | 37 (3.9) | 0.0035 |
| Environment | 2 (0.4) | 7 (0.7) | 0.7262 |
| Cause of cancer: (there is 88 missing values in cohort 2) | |||
| Scientific causes† | 63 (13.6) | 224 (25.9) | <0.0001 |
| Mythical causes‡ | 310 (66.8) | 497 (57.5) | |
| Lack of knowledge§ | 91 (19.6) | 143 (16.5) | |
Values are presented as a number and (%). Chi-square or Fisher exact test for categorical factors as appropriate. Results from fisher’s exact test were used whenever at least one of the cells has an expected count of <5 of the cut-off or significance level of p<0.05. *The authors considered all the reasons that doesn’t have strong scientific proof as mythical. **The authors agree that some of the medications may cause cancer but not all. Since the majority of medications do not cause cancer, so we classified by the majority. †Among the multiple answers of the patient if selected one scientific cause, then this case is included in this category. ‡If all of the reported cases by the patients are myths then he is included in this category. §If the patient reported I don’t know.