Volume 26, Issue 130, December 2022

Awareness of morbid obesity as a risk factor for obesity-related cancers among Saudi morbid obese patients: A cross-sectional study

Enas M Al Qahtani¹, Aziz Jarman M Alsubaie², Rajeh Omar Rajeh Alaklabi³, Sultan Hammad Mohammed Alosaimi⁴, Mashael Muhammad Alfarasani^5♦, Tahani Alshandari⁶, Malik Al Mutairi¹

¹Dammam Medical Complex, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
²King Faisal University, Hofuf, Saudi Arabia
³Bisha University, Bisha, Saudi Arabia
⁴Shaqra University, Shaqra, Saudi Arabia
⁵King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
⁶Near East University, Nicosia, Cyprus

^♦Corresponding author
King Fahd Armed Forces Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background and Aims: Obesity has become one of the most prevalent epidemic disorders worldwide. This study aimed to evaluate society’s perception of the relationship between obesity and cancer. Settings and Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted targeting obese patients in Saudi Arabia, Targeting Saudi participants aged 18 years and older from August to October 2022. Methods: After having ethical approval, an online questionnaire was used for data collection. Statistical Analysis: Data was revised, coded and input to statistical software IBM SPSS version 22 (SPSS, Inc. Chicago, IL) after being extracted. Results: The study questionnaire was completed by 512 individuals in total. Almost 70% of the obese participants are not recognized themselves as obese. In contrast, only 20.5% of them believe that they are obese. Most participants are ready to treat obesity and 47.1% consider surgery to treat obesity. The most noted reasons for treating obesity among participants were to have a better lifestyle and diet. Only 11% of them considered cancer as a threat resulting from obesity. Conclusion: The study revealed that the vast majority of the obese participants knew that obesity is a health threat due to associated complications, including metabolic diseases. However, in our society, obesity is not often recognized as a risk. The factor for cancers. Thus, it’s recommended that there is a need to increase the awareness and implantation of obesity prevention programs for patients prepared by healthcare providers.

Keywords: Obesity, Bariatric surgery, Awareness, Cancers

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms530e2593

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i130/ms530e2593

Published: 14 December 2022