title: Level of cancer awareness among women of low socioeconomic status in Mumbai slums.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in India can be prevented by early detection through screening, for which, awareness is essential.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Determining cancer awareness among low socioeconomic women in Mumbai.
  
  
  METHODS
  Community based cancer screening study using a mobile van.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data of consenting participants, collected using structured questionnaire, was differentiated into good and poor level of awareness using point based grading procedure. results: Mean age of 182 participants, majority (90.5%) belonging to lower socioeconomic strata, was 43.0∓8.8 years. Knowledge about cancer (84.6%) was good compared to knowledge of cancer screening (35.1%), awareness being higher among richer and more educated. Major sources of information were friends or relatives (46.1%) and media (35.2%). Only 6.6% had undergone prior screening.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In spite of appreciable knowledge about cancer, creating awareness about screening, its availability, and motivating the general population for screening is necessary.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Oncology, Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, India.
authors.forename: Yogesh S
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Gauravi
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mishra
authors.forename: Subhadra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: Surendra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shastri
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D011203:Poverty; D011204:Poverty Areas; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control