Abstract

Background: Worldwide, the incidence of skin cancer has increased due to increased UV exposure to solar and artificial sources. In Saudi Arabia, skin cancer ranked the 9^th most common cancer for both sexes. However, it is considered to be a preventable disease. WHO has proposed several preventive methods to avoid the damaging effects of excessive exposure to UV rays including; social education and adopting positive behavioral changes. The present study aimed to evaluate the level of knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of people in Riyadh city towards skin cancer. Results: The mean respondent's age was 35 years (12-65 years). Females represented about two-thirds of the 341 respondent. A statistically significant associations were detected between awareness about skin cancer with the age (Beta =0.03, p =0.047), educational level (Beta =0.63, p =0.042) and skin color (Beta =-2.14, p<0.001) being significant predictors for disease. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this was the first study to assess the level of knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding skin cancer in Saudi Arabia. Despite the limitations, the present study’s findings suggested that Saudis lack the sufficient knowledge to understand and assess the importance of skin cancer risk. In addition, the level of knowledge, attitude and behaviors are influenced by several factors as age, education level and skin color.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.