THE AWARENESS OF CANCER AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH CONSUMPTION OF FOOD HIGH IN NITROSAMINE: KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, PRACTICE (KAP) AMONG IIUM KUANTAN UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

Introduction: The trend in consuming preserved food, pickled food and processed food has been widely developed. This type of food contributes to high nitrosamines formation. Nitrosamines are the end product of N-nitroso compounds (NOCs) and high consumption of food containing nitrosamine leads to cancer development. The aim of this research is to explore the level of knowledge, attitude and practice among IIUM Kuantan undergraduate students regarding the awareness of consumption of food high in nitrosamines as a risk factor of cancer and their relationships. Methods: A total of 162 students were conveniently recruited. A self-administered questionnaire and an online survey questionnaire were distributed. The questionnaire consists of sociodemographic data and questions on awareness of subjects regarding the topics and comprises of knowledge, attitude, practice of students regarding the topic. Results: Majority of the respondents (n=102, 63%) depicted moderate knowledge related to nitrosamine, while 49.4% of the respondents portrayed a poor level of attitude towards this issue. More than half of the respondents (51.9%) were categorized in the high nitrosamine-consumption group. Furthermore, this study showed a significant association between knowledge and attitude (=0.002) and no significant association between knowledge and practice (=0.953) regarding the awareness of consumption of food high in nitrosamines as a risk factor of cancer. Conclusion: This study indicates that knowledge regarding nitrosamine is associated with a good attitude. However, knowledge regarding nitrosamine is not necessarily associated with good practice regarding the consumption of food high in nitrosamine.

KEYWORDS: Nitrosamines, Cancer, Knowledge, Attitude, Practice