Awareness of esophageal cancer among the adult population in Arar city, Saudi Arabia

Background: Early detection of cancer and better health seeking behavior depend on cancer awareness. Lack of awareness may result in a slow adoption of screening techniques and delayed diagnosis. Objectives: To assess the awareness of esophageal cancers (EC) risk factors, protective factors and symptoms among the general population in Arar city, northern Saudi Arabia. Subjects and methods: Descriptive cross sectional study design was conducted included 385 participants using self-administered questionnaire. Results: The study included 385 participants, their mean age 31 +/- 10.2 years old. The highest percentage of the respondents reported that smoking is risk factors for EC (83.9%) weight loss reported by more than half of the participants (56.9%) as a symptom of EC. The majority of the participants mentioned that early detection of EC decreases the mortality associated with it. Conclusion: Although Saud is citizens in the city of Arar are relatively well aware of the risk and protective factors of EC, the prevalence of the disease in Saudi Arabia is high.