Influence of Gender and Age on the Willingness to Reduce Nicotine Consumption-Results of a Survey in Urological Cancer Patients (KRAUT Study)

Dombrowski, Mirja; May, Matthias; Spachmann, Philipp Julian; Kumar, Manju Ganesh; Fritsche, Hans-Martin; Brookman-May, Sabine; Maurer, Odilo; Burger, Maximilian und Gilfrich, Christian (2018): Influence of Gender and Age on the Willingness to Reduce Nicotine Consumption-Results of a Survey in Urological Cancer Patients (KRAUT Study). In: Clinical Genitourinary Cancer, Bd. 16, Nr. 6, E1181-E1187

Abstract

Although it is well-known that smoking can cause lung cancer, the relationship between smoking and urologic cancers seems not as obvious and awareness is not widespread in the general population. For the KRAUT (knowledge of the relation between smoking and urological tumors among patients with a urological tumor disease) study, 258 patients with the diagnosis of urological cancer were interviewed using a questionnaire. Most (72.1%) stated that they never had a conversation regarding this topic with any doctor. Educational work in this field should be intensified to reduce the development and progression of urologic cancer. Purpose: Our objective was to investigate whether patients with urologic tumors were aware of smoking as a risk factor for the development and progression of several urologic cancers and the extent of the medical education they had received. Another aim was to investigate whether gender or age influenced patients' willingness to change their smoking habits. Materials and Methods: Patients with histologically malignant urologic tumors were enrolled in our questionnaire-based study from September 2013 to December 2014 in 2 urology departments. Patients were asked about their smoking habits and their general understanding of the relationship between smoking and the onset of cancer (urologic cancer and lung cancer). Also, the extent of information they had acquired from a physician was assessed. The descriptive and oncologic data of the patients were recorded. Results: Of 258 enrolled patients, 186 (72.1%) had never had an informational discussion with a doctor about smoking and their urologic tumor disease. Of the 160 active and former smokers, only 45 (28.1%) were planning to stop or reduce smoking because of their tumor disease. The willingness to change smoking habits was greater for women, with a statistically significant difference (odds ratio, 5.59;P = .002). Younger patients aged <58 years were also more willing to reduce or stop smoking. Conclusion: In our study, most patients with urologic cancer were unaware of smoking as the most probable cause of tumor development. The patients had not received proper counseling from doctors on smoking and the risk it poses for tumor progression. Efforts to balance compliance among the genders and age groups through risk-adapted counseling should be undertaken.

• Dokumententyp: Zeitschriftenartikel
• Fakultät: Medizin
• Themengebiete: 600 Technik, Medizin, angewandte Wissenschaften > 610 Medizin und Gesundheit
• ISSN: 1558-7673
• Sprache: Englisch