Evaluation of colorectal cancer awareness of pharmacy faculty students

Colorectal cancer (CRC) represents the most commonly diagnosed malignancy, about its risk factors, symptoms, and screening methods essential for early detection and prevention. This study evaluated the knowledge of CRC among fourth- and fifth-year pharmacy students, with the goal of providing data to inform curriculum community-based educational initiatives. An online cross-sectional survey conducted among pharmacy students at five Turkish institutions who agreed to participate in the study from January 6 to March 9, 2025. The study involved 532 students. The average CRC risk factor score was 11.54 (± 3.58). In total, 85.2% (453) had good knowledge of risks. The mean CRC symptom score (± SD) was 4.39 (± 2.10). In all, 60.7% (323) reported poor knowledge of symptoms. The average CRC screening score was 1.44 (± 0.70). 93.2% (496) had poor knowledge of screening. "Worrying about a bad result" was identified as the primary barrier to performing an FOBT and colonoscopy. The second barrier to the FOBT was "the test was thought to be embarrassing," while the second obstacle to receiving a colonoscopy "fear of the procedure being painful." More than half of the students (318, 59.8%) had gotten information about CRC from their curriculum, followed by family and friends (177, 33.3%), social media (174, 32.7%), books, magazines, and brochures (86, 16.1%), television or radio (75, 14.1%), and doctors (64, 12.0%). Study showed that students' knowledge about CRC symptoms and screening was poor, knowledge about CRC risks was good.