Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Measures, September 2023

<P>Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner.</P><p>The <span style="font-style: italic;">Cancer Awareness Measure</span> (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.).<br><br>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 CAM was also previously known as the National Awareness and Early Diagnosis Initiative Cancer Awareness Measure (NAEDI-CAM).</p><br><p>CAM data have been collected by CRUK approximately every two years from 2008 to 2019, moving to bi-annual in 2021. The COVID-specific CAM was developed in 2020 and 2021 to measure the longitudinal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer attitudes and behaviour and to understand the contextual influences on cancer attitudes and behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic.<br><br>Further information about the CAM may be found on the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/health-professional/awareness-and-prevention/the-cancer-awareness-measures-cam-plus#CAM_Use3" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Cancer Research UK Cancer Awareness Measures</a>&nbsp;(CAMs) webpage.<br><br>For the second edition (February 2025), the data file has been updated with two new ethnicity variables.</p><br><B>Main Topics</B>:<BR><br><br><p>The CAM questionnaire addressed the following topics:</p>
<ul>
<li><span>public awareness of cancer symptoms</span></li><li>public knowledge of cancer risk factors</li><li>reasons for patient delay before contacting doctor </li><li>public knowledge of common cancer types in men and women</li><li>public awareness of cancer screening programmes</li><li>demographic variables</li></ul>