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Background: The stigma associated with cancer has negative impacts on cancer patients as well as the general public, who have a potential risk of cancer. To the best of our knowledge, a validated measure to assess cancer stigma among the general Japanese population does not exist.Method: We translated the Cancer Stigma Scale (CASS) - a 25-item self-administered scale to evaluate stigma related to cancer - into Japanese and examined its psychometric properties. The Japanese version of CASS (J-CASS) was validated among a sample of the general Japanese population through an online survey to validate its test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and concurrent validity.Results: A total of 319 responses were included in the analysis. An exploratory factor analysis eliminated two original items but showed a six-factor model (Awkwardness, Severity, Avoidance, Policy Opposition, Personal Responsibility, and Financial Discrimination), which was similar to the original scale. Cronbach's alpha for each factor was satisfactory, ranging from 0.81 to 0.91. The internal correlation coefficients were above 0.70, except for Policy Opposition. The total and subtotal scores of each factor of the J-CASS were significantly associated with respondents' age, gender, familiarity with cancer patients, and social desirability, demonstrating the scales' good concurrent validity. A substantial proportion of the participants selected "unsure" for some items of the scale, suggesting a further need for refining the scale.Significance Of Results: This study demonstrated that J-CASS is a reliable and valid measure for evaluating misconceptions and stigma toward cancer in the general Japanese population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study was to describe the cancer-screening intention, sources of cancer information, and cancer understanding among Japanese adolescents. A cross-sectional nationwide survey involving a self-administered questionnaire was conducted. Response rates of the target schools were 46.4 % (n = 103) for junior high schools and 55.8 % (n = 116) for high schools. From these, we analyzed the data of 2960 junior high school students (1520 males, 1440 females) and 3703 high school students (1546 males, 2157 females) to examine the association between cancer-screening intention and sources of cancer-related information and understanding. A significant association between cancer-screening intention and sources of cancer information and cancer understanding was observed. The screening intention group identified more sources of cancer information than the no-screening intention group did. Understanding about cancer was reported by a higher proportion of students in the screening intention group compared with the no-screening intention group. Recognition that healthy people must take part in cancer screening was significantly associated with screening intention in both junior high (odds ratio (OR), 1.859; 95 % confidence interval (CI), 1.582-2.185; P < 0.001) and high school (OR, 2.485; 95 % CI, 2.139-2.887; P < 0.001) students. Health education at school was indicated by a high proportion of students as a source of cancer-related information, although the association was not significant. The present survey indicated that those in of our sample who intended to undergo future cancer screening (67.8 %) had more sources of information and understanding regarding cancer. Thus, schools should enrich health education curricula with more information and understanding about cancer to promote cancer-screening intention among Japanese adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective　Using a nationwide survey of cancer education outcomes that contribute to cancer control, this study aimed to determine the short-term outcomes of cancer education associated with students' perceptions of cancer risk.Methods　An online survey was administered to second-year high school students between September and December 2022. The participants were asked about two basic attributes and 33 short-term outcome measures, as shown in the cancer education logic model. Of the 238 schools randomly selected nationwide, 145 (30,208 students) participated (60.9% of the institutions responded). Of the 21,692 respondents, 20,402 indicated that they would participate in the survey. The analysis included 19,785 respondents (response rate; 65.5%). After calculating the percentage of responses for each item, we conducted a Chi-square test with sex as the dependent variable and logistic regression analysis with cancer risk awareness as the dependent variable, using sex as the adjustment variable for statistical analysis. The significance level was set at P＜0.05.Results　The percentage of responses based on the calculation method for each indicator ranged from 67.6-88.4% and 77.5-93.1% among male and female students, respectively, for the seven indicators of cancer prevention. Contrastingly, the percentages for the three indicators in the field of cancer care ranged from 4.3-89.1% and 6.6-89.8% among male and female students, respectively. Cancer risk awareness among female students was higher than that among male students at 3,196 (31.9%) and 2,814 (28.8%), respectively (P＜0.001). Additionally, more female students knew about cancer, whereas more male students felt stigmatized. Furthermore, in an analysis in which sex was used as a moderating variable, 25 of the 33 items were risk perception-related factors. Of these, odds ratio was 0.92 (95% confidence interval; 0.86-0.98) for those who found it easy to judge "the basis of cancer information."Conclusion　Cancer risk perception was positively associated with sex and many short-term outcome measures in cancer education. Improved health education on cancer as a typical disease and an appropriate social environment for such education are required.

Background: Hand washing instructions for children have been implemented in school education to establish good lifestyle habits. However, repeated hand washing through education from early childhood was common for both teachers and children. If this continues, children might assume they already know how to wash their hands, stop taking handwashing instructions seriously, and become increasingly lax about washing their hands., Purpose: This study aimed to develop a new handwashing education method for children., Methods: We applied the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) test to health education on hand washing in elementary schools. This study was conducted as part of a class for elementary school students in October 2023, in Hokkaido, Japan. The subjects were 157 third-grade (9-10 years old) elementary school students. After excluding absent pupils, 147 were included in the analysis., Results: Both pre- and post-education, ATP values after handwashing were lower than those before handwashing. Following the education, children's handwashing behavior improved, with an increase in the number of point washed and appropriate timing of handwashing., Conclusion: The new handwashing education program utilizing the ATP-test succeeded in promoting handwashing behavior among many children. Visualizing handwashing using ATP values was effective in motivating children., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2024 Oura, Naito, Yako-Suketomo, Nakata, Koyama and Ohnishi.)