title: Development and validation of a cancer awareness questionnaire for Malaysian undergraduate students of Chinese ethnicity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the development and validation of a cancer awareness questionnaire (CAQ) based on a literature review of previous studies, focusing on cancer awareness and prevention.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 388 Chinese undergraduate students in a private university in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, were recruited to evaluate the developed self-administered questionnaire. The CAQ consisted of four sections: awareness of cancer warning signs and screening tests; knowledge of cancer risk factors; barriers in seeking medical advice; and attitudes towards cancer and cancer prevention. The questionnaire was evaluated for construct validity using principal component analysis and internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha (α) coefficient. Test-retest reliability was assessed with a 10-14 days interval and measured using Pearson product-moment correlation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The initial 77-item CAQ was reduced to 63 items, with satisfactory construct validity, and a high total internal consistency (Cronbach's α=0.77). A total of 143 students completed the questionnaire for the test-retest reliability obtaining a correlation of 0.72 (p<0.001) overall.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The CAQ could provide a reliable and valid measure that can be used to assess cancer awareness among local Chinese undergraduate students. However, further studies among students from different backgrounds (e.g. ethnicity) are required in order to facilitate the use of the cancer awareness questionnaire among all university students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nutrition and Wellness, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UCSI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Jo Lin
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Loo
authors.forename: Yee Kwang
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Ang
authors.forename: Hip Seng
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Yim
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology*; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors; D013334:Students; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult