Cancer knowledge and attitudes of African-American and white adolescents: a comparison of two secondary schools.
A cancer knowledge and attitude survey was administered to 385 students 12 to 18 years of age. Half attended a predominantly African-American academic high school and the other half, a predominantly white college preparatory school. Both schools were in Washington, DC. Responses were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov two-sample test. African-American students more often than white students understood the words leukemia and malignancy to mean cancer; identified breast self-examination as a method for early cancer detection; and recognized chemotherapy as effective cancer treatment. White students more often than African-American students responded correctly that cancer is less common in children than in adults; cancer is often curable; and research has benefited cancer outcome. Although both groups of students had good knowledge, the African-American adolescents appeared to have a pessimistic attitude, which may contribute to "delay behavior," suboptimal compliance, and poor survival. Cancer education should help to counteract this attitude, however. It is also encouraging that the African-American adolescents were more interested than the white students in further cancer education.
Rana
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Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Howard University College of Medicine, Washington, DC.
Knasel
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Haddy
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D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People