Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Measures, 2012: Special Licence Access

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) was developed in 2007-8 to address the absence of a validated measure of general public awareness of cancer (Stubbings, S., Robb, K., Waller, J., Ramirez, A., Austoker, J., Macleod, U., Hion, S., and Wardle, J. (2009) 'Development of a measurement tool to assess public awareness of cancer', British Journal of Cancer, 101(2), S13-S17.).The survey includes measures of awareness of signs and symptoms of cancer, cancer risk factors, age-related risk, screening programmes and potential barriers to seeing the GP. Since then, Cancer Research UK (CRUK) has significantly revised and updated the survey, including a wider range of questions and collecting data online instead of face-to-face. The Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) is a survey designed to assess public awareness of cancer warning signs/symptoms, cancer risk factors and barriers to help seeking. Data have been collected every two years from 2008 from a representative face to face sample of the population of Great Britain via the Office of National Statistics (ONS) Opinions and Lifestyle Survey.  Patients with cancer in the UK tend to present with more advanced disease and have poorer survival rates than their European counterparts. One of the work streams set out in the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative (NAEDI), which was established under the Department of Health's Cancer Reform Strategy for improving cancer outcomes, has focused on developing a validated standardised measure for the general population, comprising a set of questions designed to reliably assess cancer awareness. The purpose of the Cancer Awareness Measure (CAM) is to facilitate accurate and sensitive surveillance of public awareness of cancer over time, identify information needs, and monitor the impact of campaigns promoting cancer awareness and early presentation. It helps to develop an in-depth understanding of current awareness, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in relation to cancer. Further information about the CAM may be found on the Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Measures (CAMs) webpage.Main Topics:The CAM questionnaire addressed the following topics:public awareness of cancer symptomspublic knowledge of cancer risk factorsreasons for patient delay before contacting doctorpublic knowledge of common cancer types in men and womenpublic awareness of cancer screening programmesdemographic variablesThe Special Licence version of the CAM dataset includes more detailed data on symptoms, risk factor and reasons for delay. Users should check the standard End User Licence (EUL) version of the study to see whether it meets their research needs before making an application for the Special Licence version.Public awareness of cancerCancer risk factorsBarriers to help seeking