Table 4 Unprompted recognition of risk factors perceived to be associated with lung cancer by NSW residents, Australia, 2012 (n=1000) (weighted to NSW population) and triangulation with qualitative focus group data
Quantitative survey responses | Qualitative focus group responses | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Perceived risk factor for lung cancer | Total (%) 95 % confidence interval | Current smokers (%) | Former smokers (%) | Never smokers (%) | Overall | Count | Comparison |
Being a smoker | 90.6 (88.4-92.8) | 86.6 | 89.7 | 91.9 | No observed differences between group discussions based on age, geography. | 13 groups mention smoking, those that didn’t were all smoker groups | The link with smoking is very well known and people just ignore that and just keep on coughing away. |
Second-hand smoke | 25.6 (22.3-28.9) | 14.4** | 23.3 * | 29.1 | 7 groups mention passive smoking, those that didn’t were current/exsmoker | I think certain people are more allergic to nicotine than what otherpeople are. | |
Air pollution | 21.6 (18.5-24.8) | 28.1 * | 22.3 | 20.0 | The majority of discussions focused around smoking as a cause and its comparability to other potential factors. | 11 groups mention air pollution | Look if you’re taking anything into your lungs which isn’t clean air, obviously that’s going to have some e effect. |
Chemicals & sprays | 24.4 (21.1-27.6) | 30.8 | 23.9 | 23.3 | 7 groups mention chemical substances such as poisons, dyes, fertilisers | Probably the toothpaste has worse chemicals than all of them. | |
Asbestos | 15.3 (12.6-17.9) | 17.3 | 12.4 | 16.4 | There was confusion about whether it was chance that some people were more susceptible to lung cancer. | 8 groups mention pollution | Like asbestos and that … anything that can affect the lungs and your breathing. |
Occupational exposure | 4.9 (3.1-6.7) | 2.6 | 3.9 | 5.9 | 8 groups mention occupation | People working in coal mines could be at risk of lung disease. People working at a chemical plant. | |
Hereditary | 13.1 (10.8-15.8) | 16.9 | 14.2 | 12.2 | All groups mention a ‘genetic predisposition’ | I do believe that everybody is carrying a cancer gene but it has to have something to activate it. | |
Unhealthy lifestyle | 14.1 (11.5-16.7) | 13.8 | 12.5 | 150 | Stress, physical inactivity, overweight and unhealthy lifestyles were mentioned by different groups | Yeah, exactly, and I think if a lot of us paid more attention to our fitness, maybe cancer wouldn’t be quite so common. | |
Diet | 7.0 (5.0-9.0) | 5.1 | 3.5 * | 9.3 | 9 groups believe diet is a cause of lung cancer | Food and diet additives, preservatives, chemicals in food. | |