here your doctor

The French fear cancer but easily refuge in attitudes of denial, especially for their own risk, show the results of the first barometer Cancer National Institute for Prevention and Health Education (INPE)

A disease to be feared!

For the first time, more than 4,000 French people aged sixteen and older were interviewed on various topics related to cancer, such as their perception of cancer in general, their knowledge of the factors that could facilitate the development of the disease or feelings about the support, said Philippe Lamoureux, Director of INPE, during a press conference in Paris.

In partnership with the Regional Health Observatory Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (ORS PACA), this work is part of the Cancer Plan, meeting the goal of better understanding the disease.

Cancer remains the condition that the French fear the most. In fact, 92.3% of respondents put the top three most serious diseases to AIDS (65.2%) and cardiovascular disease (30.1%).

The world appears to French potentially responsible for carcinogens. Whatever the proposed factor, however unlikely it may seem (like the fact of not being able to express emotions or becoming bitter disappointments because of emotional or professional), four to five out of ten people believe that it is a definitely or probably carcinogenic element.

Denial associated risks

"Since the French have the feeling of living in a cancer environment, it feel encouraged a strategy of denial, with a distancing of risk factors that affect them. Most believe that tobacco and alcohol are carcinogens, but they relativize the risk by other factors, "said Philippe Lamoureux. Denial is on everyone's own and not on the overall risk risk, but this "defense strategy that can counteract the messages of prevention" must be taken into account in the design of campaigns, he noted.

According to him, the multiplication of messages can indeed cause a decrease in risk perception: "If everything is carcinogenic, it seems unnecessary to stop smoking or drinking alcohol," he developed in warning that "focus on air pollution should not be an excuse for not quitting."

This denial of risk is particularly evident for tobacco and alcohol. Thus, smokers recognize that smoking certainly favors the development of cancer (97.9%) but they are nearly 70% think they do not smoke enough, or not long enough to be exposed to a high risk of cancer due to smoking. In a comparable way, if 81.4% of respondents believe that drinking more than three drinks a day promotes the development of cancer, opinions minimizing the risk associated with alcohol remains widespread and participants rather tend to focus on criminogenic effects (driving, violence) or to differentiate the effect of type of alcohol (wine and spirits).

In terms of sun exposure, the ideas are many, since four French still believe that artificial tanning prepares and protects the skin from sunburn, while more than a third of respondents believes that sunburn of childhood are no consequences if they are well cared for. However, some preventive messages are passed, noted Yolande Obadia, Director of ORS Paca: 80% of respondents now know that the sun ages skin prematurely.

Youth (16-19 years) proved to be the least knowledgeable about the hours during which sun exposure is dangerous (26.9%), but also less likely to protect themselves by wearing sunglasses (20, 2%), a hat or cap (11.9%) or avoiding the sunniest hours (8.8%).

Progress in the management

For nearly 90% of respondents, many cancers are curable and pain patients is better supported, but the perception of progress is accompanied by a demand for recognition of the human dimension in the treatment of disease. Thus, nearly 60% of the French consider that doctors are more interested in the disease and that they are all sick to believe that cancer patients face unilateral decisions regarding medical treatment to follow.

These results indicate that if "caregivers were mobilized to provide more information, responding to patient demand, the messages are not always received adequate way. Should be symmetry between information and entertainment "said Dr. Dominique Maraninchi, president of the National Cancer Institute (Inca), who attended the press conference.

The barometer shows that we must act in the doctor / patient relationship, but also to fight against inequality, he said. In fact, over 60% of respondents believe that it is well cared for in a public hospital in a private clinic, but 45.8% believe that it is best treated when you have more money. This sense of social inequality in the treatment of the disease is particularly acute among low-income people, noted Philippe Lamoureux.

This perception has "no reason to be in France" and it shows that we must be attentive to the particularities of people care to court misunderstandings, continued Prof. Maraninchi.

"The French target vis-à-vis the consumption of salt is higher than that of other European countries," admitted Martin Ambrose, President of the AFSSA. But this is explained by the f