Awareness of the population under the age of 30 about malignant illnesses

Maligne bolesti su zbog visoke učestalosti i visoke stope smrtnosti oboljelih prozvane epidemijom modernog doba. Mogu nastati u svakom tkivu ili organu te u svakoj životnoj dobi. Jedan su od vodećih uzroka morbiditeta i mortaliteta u svijetu s incidencijom od 14 milijuna novih dijagnoza godišnje i 8,2 milijuna smrtnih ishoda. U Hrvatskoj predstavljaju drugi najvažniji uzrok smrti iza bolesti srca i krvnih žila. U medicinskom rječniku, pojam maligne bolesti s jedne strane obilježava rak, dok s druge strane obilježava bolest u kojoj je napredak veoma brz i općenito prijeti ili dovodi do smrti u kratkom vremenu, uključujući, ali ne i ograničavajući se na rak.Gledajući dobnu skupinu, sve veći porast obolijevanja od malignih bolesti bilježi se kod mlađih osoba. Kod žena rak dojke predstavlja prvi uzrok smrtnosti u svijetu, a veliku opasnost predstavlja za osobe mlađe životne dobi jer se tada rak puno brže razvija i napreduje u odnosu na žene u starijoj životnoj dobi. Nasuprot mladim ženama, kod muškaraca mlađe životne dobi veliku opasnost predstavlja rak testisa koji u posljednjih dvadesetak godina bilježi porast od 70%.Budući da se o malignim oboljenjima malo piše i zna, a ujedno bilježi sve veći porast u populaciji, pogotovo kod osoba mlađe životne dobi, provedeno je istraživanje putem"Google"ankete kojim se željela ispitati osviještenost populacije mlađe od 30 godina o malignim oboljenjima. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 470 osoba oba spola, u dobi od 15 do 30 godina, različitog stupnja obrazovanja. Svi sudionici su ispunili anketu koja sadrži 20 pitanja. Rezultati istraživanja pokazuju da populacija mlađe životne dobi ima određenog znanjaopćenito o malignim bolestima, a i o najčešćim malignim bolestima koje zahvaćaju tu skupinu. Sudionici su veće znanje pokazali o raku dojke, a nešto manje se zna o raku testisa. Nadalje, rezultati istraživanja pokazuju kako je pridržavanje mjera prevencije poput redovitih samopregleda i medicinskih pregleda na niskoj razini. Također, edukacija je nešto bolja kod ispitanika koji žive u gradu u odnosu na ispitanike koji žive na selu. Stoga, kao zaključak ovog istraživanja, a i cijelog rada, naglašava se važnost kontinuirane edukacije cjelokupnog stanovništva kako bi se povećala razina svijesti o važnosti brige za vlastito zdravlje. Preporuča se organiziranje različitih radionica, skupova i javnozdravstvenih akcija kojima bi se stanovništvo motiviralo na obavljanje redovitih kontrolnih pregleda i samopregleda u svrhu pravovremenog otkrivanja bolesti i sprječavanja komplikacija.Due to high incidence as well as the high rates of mortality, malignant diseases are termed the epidemic of the modern age. They can occur in every tissue or organ and at every stage of life. Malignant diseases are one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the world with 14 million new diagnoses and 8.2 million deaths. In Croatia, they represent the second most important cause of death behind heart and blood vessels. In a medical dictionary, the very concept of malignant disease on the one hand marks cancer, while on the other hand it is characterized by a disease in which progress is very rapid and generally threatens or leads to death in a short time. Looking at the age group, an ever-increasing illness of malignant diseases is observed in younger people. As far as women are concerned, breast cancer is the first cause of mortality in the world, and is a major danger for younger women because cancer is then much faster developing and advancing than at older ages. Contrary to young women, men with lower age are a major threat to cancer of the testicles, which has increased by 70% over the last twenty years. Since malignant illnesses are little known, especially in circles of younger people, a "google" survey was conducted to examine the awareness of people under the age of 30 on malignant illnesses. The study involved 470 people of both sexes, different degrees of education, between 15 and 30 years of age. All participants completed a questionnaire containing 20 questions. The research results show that the younger population has some knowledge about the malignant diseases. Participants were more aware of breast cancer, and little less about testicular cancer. Furthermore, research results show that prevention measures such as regular self-review and medical examinations, are at a low level. Also, education is a bit better in the respondents living in the city compared to those living in the village. Therefore, as a conclusion of this research, and of the whole work is the importance of continuous education on entire population in order to raise the level of awareness for their own health. It is recommended to organize various workshops, conferences and public health actions that would motivate the population to perform regular checkups and self-review for the purpose of detection of disease and prevention of complications. More than half of the research participants stated that they would be interested in attending lectures or workshops on how to prevent malignant illness