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Abstract
Gastric cancer is the 5-th most commonly diagnosed on-cological disease. Annually, more than a million cases ofstomach cancer are diagnosed worldwide, and more thanhalf of them die from the disease. The aim of the study was toassess the population awareness about risk factors, symp-toms and prevention activities of gastric cancer. Study meth-ods: A cross-sectional (one point) survey was conducted;for data collection an electronic self-completed question-naire was shared with the respondents via social network.Statistical analysis of the results was performed using theEpiInfo package, version 7. Bivariate statistical analysis wasused to assess respondents’ awareness of gastric cancer byage, marital status, level of education and profession. Oddsratio (OR), 95% confidence interval (95% CI) and p-valuewere calculated. A p value <0.05 was considered statisticallysignificant. Results: totally 126 respondents were involvedin the study. According to the bivariate statistical analysis,young respodents (under 30) are more aware of the correla-tion between behavioral factors (alcohol, tobacco, unhealthydiet) and stomach cancer, although the results are not statis-tically significant (p value >0.05); Awareness of people withhigher education about the role of tobacco is statisticallysignificant (OR=7.3; 95%CI=2.6-20.5, p value <0.05); Theprofession related to medicine is positively correlated withhigh awareness and statistically significant (p value <0.05):they responded that Helicobacter pylori (OR=14.5(95%CI=5.8-35.9)), harmful consumption of alcohol (OR=4.7(95%CI=1.8-12.4) and overweight / obesity (OR=4.4(95%CI=1.9-10.4) are risk factors for developing stomachcancer; people with medical education are more likely to cor-rectly declare that the activities against H. Pylori are effec-tive ways for preventing stomach cancer (OR=15.6;95%CI=5.5-44.2, p value <0.05). Conclusions and recommen-dations. Opportunities for stomach cancer prevention arelimited in the country, because: (a) awareness of the popula-tion about gastric cancer is low and (b) the knowledge ofpeople with medical education is high compared to otherrespondents, though often incomplete. In order to promoteprimary and secondary prevention of gastric cancer, it isnecessary (a) to increase public awareness and (b) to assessthe knowledge, attitudes and practice of primary care doc-tors about gastric cancer for planning their training programsaccording to the results obtained.