Awareness of Smoking As a Risk Factor For Bladder Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study in Jordan

Background and Aims: Bladder cancer (BCa) is a relatively common cancer, ranking 10th worldwide and the 6th most common tumor in Jordan. Smoking is considered the most important risk factor for bladder cancer, and in Jordan, there is a high documented smoking rate (65% in males and 42% in both sexes). Our aim is to evaluate the awareness of smoking as a risk factor for BCa among a sample of the Jordanian population. Materials and Methods: This quantitative population-based cross-sectional study used an online structured self-administered questionnaire to collect data from a sample of 726 participants who were selected from the most populated governorates of Jordan. They were queried about their demographics, smoking status, and knowledge regarding smoking as a risk factor for BCa among other multiple medical conditions. Results: Overall, 400 (55.1%) of the participants were females and 203 (28%) were active smokers. Although 50.6% of the participants knew that smoking is a risk factor for BCa only 25% indicated that it is the most important risk factor. In addition, awareness of smoking as a risk factor for other medical conditions such as lung cancer, heart diseases and oral cancer was significantly higher than that of BCa. Conclusion: The overall knowledge among our sample regarding the relationship between BCa and smoking is not satisfactory highlighting the need to raise the awareness of smoking effect on BCa.