ROLE OF DIGITAL MEDIA INFLUENCE ON CANCER AWARENESS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN SAUDI ARABIA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Cancer remains a major public health challenge in Saudi Arabia, and university students mainly rely on digital media for health information.  Thus, the study evaluated cancer awareness among university students and examined the associations among the types of digital platforms used with their levels of cancer awareness.  A cross-sectional study was conducted among 429 university students using a validated self-administered questionnaire to gather sociodemographic characteristics and digital media use for information on cancer.  The majority of students reported social media as their primary source for cancer information, followed by online/AI-based platforms and videos.  The overall cancer awareness was average, with a better awareness of treatment side-effects compared with other awareness categories.  The students’ level of cancer awareness depended on their age, educational program enrolled, residence location (urban or rural), and type/frequency of digital media accessed, with students having a lower general cancer awareness level being more likely to depend on social media for information.  These findings indicated that digital media, particularly social media, are significantly associated with the level of cancer awareness among university students.  Strengthening trustworthy, youth-friendly cancer awareness online content will help raise cancer understanding among the young population and facilitate adherence to public policies and recommendations on cancer prevention and control.