An Exploratory Study on the Impacts of Individual Skills and Health Information Exposure on Perceptions of Cancer Control and Expert Competence

AbstractPeople ’s perceptions of control over their risk of cancer, and their perceptions of health experts’ abilities to manage cancer risks, shape their beliefs about the effectiveness of expert-recommended cancer-preventive behaviors and actions. The aims of this exploratory study were to investigate the im pact of individual skills and sources of health information on (i) internal locus of cancer control (ILOC) and (ii) perceived expert competence. Using a cross-sectional survey (n = 172), we collected data on individual health expertise, numeracy, health literacy, amounts of health information received from various sources, ILOC for cancer prevention and perceived expert competence (i.e., believing that health experts have the knowledge to correctly estimate cancer risks ). Significant associations between health expertise and ILOC, and between health literacy and ILOC, were not observed in this study (OR = 2.15, 95%CI = 0.96–5.98; OR = 1.78, 95%CI = 0.97–3.63, respectively). Participants who received more health information from the news were mo re likely to perceive experts as competent (OR = 1.86, 95%CI = 1.06–3.57). Logistic regression analyses suggested that higher levels of health literacy among individuals with lower numeracy may promote ILOC but discourage expert competence beliefs. Analyses by gender suggested females with low educational attainment and lower numeracy may especially benefit from educational interventions to ...
Source: Journal of Cancer Education - Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: research