Measurement of Cancer Related Risk Perceptions

对疾病风险的感知，即个人对患病概率的信念，是健康行为改变理论中最常用的因素之一。癌症相关风险认知是开展各种癌症筛查和预防行为的重要前提。因此，生活方式、遗传和环境在癌症病因学中的作用取得了前所未有的进步，这就需要对个人收集和使用癌症风险信息的过程进行进一步的检查。尽管癌症相关风险感知在癌症控制中的重要性，但目前的测量方法受到广泛批评。批评包括缺乏既定的可靠性和有效性，以及主要使用似然量表。这项研究的目的是为癌症相关风险认知测量的可靠性和有效性提供初步证据。鉴于烟草使用是最重要的癌症风险因素，我们将以吸烟者对其癌症风险的认识作为初步制定措施的基础。首先，我们将基于文献回顾和健康、健康、健康的访谈，生成一个与癌症相关的风险感知项目库。不同种族的吸烟者。其次，我们将通过焦点小组和吸烟者（N=200）的调查反馈对项目进行定性和定量分析。最后，我们将构建一个癌症相关风险感知量表，并使用额外的吸烟者样本（N=200）建立减少的项目池的信度和效度。癌症相关风险感知量表的开发将允许更准确地评估癌症风险信息的影响，并更精确地测试风险感知作为行为改变的中介。它还将为不同人群中不同癌症部位的风险认知的标准化比较提供基础。

The perception of disease risk, the personal belief about the probability of developing disease, is one of the most frequently utilized factors in health behavior change theories. Cancer-related risk perception is an important prerequisite for varied cancer screening and prevention behaviors. As such, the unprecedented advancements in the role of lifestyle, genetics, and environment in the etiology of cancer necessitate further examination of the process by which individuals gather and use cancer risk information. Despite the importance of cancer-related risk perception in cancer control, current measurement methods are widely criticized. Criticisms include lack of established reliability and validity, and the predominant use of likelihood scales. The goal of the study is to develop and provide initial evidence for the reliability and validity of a measure of cancer-related risk perception. Given that tobacco use is the paramount cancer risk factor, we will use smokers' conceptions of their cancer risk as a basis for the initial development of the measure. First, we will generate a cancer-related risk perception item pool based on a review of the literature, and interviews with healthy, . ethnically diverse smokers. Second, we will conduct qualitative and quantitative analyses of the items through focus groups and smokers' (N=200) survey responses. Finally, we will construct a cancer-related risk perception scale and establish reliability and construct validity of the reduced item pool using an additional sample of smokers (N=200). The development of a cancer-related risk perception scale would allow for more accurate assessment of the impact of cancer risk information, and more precise testing of risk perception as a mediator of behavior change. It would also provide a basis for standardized comparison of risk perceptions across a variety of cancer sites with diverse populations.