Development of a measurement tool to assess public awareness of cancer

TLDR

The authors aimed to develop and validate the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) to assess cancer awareness in the general population. They created items on warning signs, risk factors, incidence, screening, and help‑seeking attitudes from literature and expert input, then tested reliability with 148 university participants (94 retested after 2 weeks), established construct validity by comparing expert and non‑expert scores, and assessed sensitivity to change by giving students either an informational or control leaflet before completing the CAM. Cognitive interviews confirmed intended interpretation, internal reliability was α = 0.77 and test‑retest r = 0.81, experts scored significantly higher than non‑experts, and students exposed to the cancer leaflet scored higher than controls, demonstrating the CAM’s strong psychometric properties and validity.

Abstract

We aimed to develop and validate a measurement tool to assess cancer awareness in the general population: the cancer awareness measure (CAM). Items assessing awareness of cancer warning signs, risk factors, incidence, screening programmes and attitudes towards help seeking were extracted from the literature or generated by expert groups. To determine reliability, the CAM was administered to a university participant panel (n=148), with a sub-sample (n=94) completing it again 2 weeks later. To establish construct validity, CAM scores of cancer experts (n=12) were compared with those of non-medical academics (n=21). Finally, university students (n=49) were randomly assigned to read either a cancer information leaflet or a leaflet with control information before completing the measure, to ensure the CAM was sensitive to change. Cognitive interviewing indicated that the CAM was being interpreted as intended. Internal reliability (Cronbach's α=0.77) and test–retest reliability (r=0.81) were high. Scores for cancer experts were significantly higher than those for non-medical academics (t(31)=6.8, P<0.001). CAM scores were higher among students who received an intervention leaflet than the control leaflet (t(47)=4.8, P<0.001). These studies show the psychometric properties of the CAM and support its validity as a measure of cancer awareness in the general population.