Objective:

We aimed to evaluate the recognition level of bladder cancer in the society by conducting a survey with regards to social awareness in early diagnosis of bladder cancer in this study.

Materials and Methods:

The survey was conducted on 100 randomly selected patients who were admitted to our clinic in May 2016 for any complaints. In the survey, the main focus was hematuria which is the first and the most common symptom of bladder cancer and questions and statements on this subject was used.

Results:

Of 100 patients, 67 (66.7%) were male, and 33 (33.3%) were female. Thirty six of the patients were younger than 50 (36%), and 64 of them (64%) were 50 years and older. Education level of 40 (40%) patients was found to be university level, and 60 (60%) patients we high school graduates or lower. Twenty seven (27%) patients had complains about blood in the urine, while 67 (67%) of them had no such complaint. Of 27 patients that had complaint about hematuria, which is the most important symptom of bladder cancer 22 (81%) were male and 5 (19%) were female. We divided the patients into two groups based on 50 age limit. Group 1 included patients who were below 50, while the group 2 consisted of patients who were 50 years old and above. The rates of immediate consultation were determined to be significantly higher in group 2 than group 1. The rate of consulting urology department in the presence of hematuria, and the rates of considering the risk of bladder cancer as a possible diagnosis were higher in group 2, but the difference was not statistically significant. There was no significant difference found between the two groups who were separated by age in terms of required diagnostic tests. The patients were divided into two more groups based on their education level. Group 3 included patients of university graduates, and group 4 included patients with high school graduates or lower. The rates of immediate consultation were significantly higher in group 4. In the event of hematuria, there was no significant difference between the two groups in terms of consulting urology department, considering the risk of bladder cancer as a possible diagnosis, or required diagnostic tests.

Conclusion:

We observed that a certain level of awareness has been formed in the society regarding hematuria on early diagnosis of the bladder cancer; however, there are still some problems managing this issue. The absence of significant difference between the groups based on education level points out the significance of further actions to be taken to raise social awareness in whole community for this matter.

Keywords: Bladder cancer, epidemiology, early diagnosis, awareness