title: Public perception of cancer survival rankings.
abstract: Past research has observed that certain subgroups (e.g., individuals who are overweight/obese) have inaccurate estimates of survival rates for particular cancers (e.g., colon cancer). However, no study has examined whether the lay public can accurately rank cancer survival rates in comparison with one another (i.e., rank cancers from most deadly to least deadly). A sample of 400 Indiana adults aged 18 to 89 years (M = 33.88 years) completed a survey with questions regarding perceived cancer survival rates. Most cancers were ranked accurately; however, breast and stomach cancer survival rankings were highly distorted such that breast cancer was perceived to be significantly more deadly and stomach cancer significantly less deadly than reality. Younger participants also overestimated the survival rate for pancreatic cancer. These distortions mirror past content analytic work demonstrating that breast, stomach, and pancreatic cancers are misrepresented in the news.
authors: 1University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
authors: Jakob D
authors: JD
authors: Jensen
authors: Courtney L
authors: CL
authors: Scherr
authors: Natasha
authors: N
authors: Brown
authors: Christina
authors: C
authors: Jones
authors: Katheryn
authors: K
authors: Christy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007196:Indiana; D008297:Male; D008402:Mass Media; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000145:classification* / Q000401:mortality*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015996:Survival Rate; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: cancer; distortion; survival rates