An Online Survey and Focus Groups for Promoting Cancer Prevention Measures

In order to design a cancer prevention promotion program in the region, suggestions were solicited at a medical center. We hypothesized that a majority would be native to state, and would be able to articulate about the barriers that may exist. Through online survey and focus groups, suggestions were sought, and the knowledge and the compliance with cancer prevention recommendations were assessed to determine the participants’ qualifications as potential educators. Sixty-five point two percent of participants (n = 1018) graduated from high school in Arkansas. The most commonly given suggestions were to provide education to increase awareness, to use social media for promotion, to improve access, and to reduce costs. Self-reported adherence rates to breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening were 82.6% ( n = 954), 75.8% ( n = 541), and 76.7% ( n = 453), respectively. Having a personal history of cancer significantly increased colorectal cancer screening uptake ( p = 0.04), but paradoxically decreased mammography uptake ( p = 0.007). Salary of $40,000 and more and having a Bachelor’s degree or higher were associated with higher compliance of Papanicolaou test only ( p = 0.007 and p = 0.001, respectively). A majority (67.7%, n = 1056) of respondents expressed willingness to contribute to promoting cancer prevention measures, and 38.3% ( n = 559) were willing to participate in focus groups. However, only 6.3% ( n = 35) actually participated. The participants’ knowledge and compliance appeared to be sufficient, but their follow through in focus group participation was poor.