Premium
Knowledge of the harms of tobacco use among patients with bladder cancer
Author(s) -
Bassett Jeffrey C.,
Gore John L.,
Kwan Lorna,
Ritch Chad R.,
Barocas Daniel A.,
Penson David F.,
McCarthy William J.,
Saigal Christopher S.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.28915
Subject(s) - medicine , odds ratio , bladder cancer , confidence interval , cancer , logistic regression , risk factor , cohort , tobacco use , smoking cessation , family medicine , environmental health , pathology , population
BACKGROUND The objective of this study was to determine tobacco use knowledge and attribution of cause in patients with newly diagnosed bladder cancer. METHODS A stratified, random sample of bladder cancer survivors diagnosed between 2006 and 2009 was obtained from the California Cancer Registry. Respondents were surveyed about tobacco use, risk factors, and sources of information on the causes of bladder cancer. Contingency tables and logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate tobacco use knowledge and beliefs. RESULTS Of 1198 eligible participants, 790 (66%) completed the survey. Sixty‐eight percent of the cohort had a history of tobacco use, and 19% were active smokers at diagnosis. Tobacco use was the most cited risk factor for bladder cancer, with active smokers more knowledgeable than former smokers or never smokers (90% vs 64% vs 61%, respectively; P <.001). Urologists were the predominant source of information and were cited most often by active smokers (82%). In multivariate analyses, active smokers had 6.37 times greater odds (95% confidence interval, 3.35‐12.09) than never smokers of endorsing tobacco use as a risk factor for bladder cancer, and smokers who named the urologist as their information source had 2.80 times greater odds (95% confidence interval, 1.77‐4.43) of believing tobacco use caused their cancer. CONCLUSIONS Patients' smoking status and primary source of information were associated with knowledge of the harms of tobacco use and, in smokers, acknowledgment that tobacco use increased the risk of their own disease. Urologists play a critical role in ensuring patients' knowledge of the connection between smoking and bladder cancer, particularly for active smokers who may be motivated to quit. Cancer 2014;120:3914–3922 . © 2014 American Cancer Society .