https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896920923724 Health Education Journal 2020, Vol. 79(8) 875–887 © The Author(s) 2020 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/0017896920923724 journals.sagepub.com/home/hej Level of knowledge, attitudes and interest of Turkish high school students towards cancer Ilgin Yildirim Usta and Armagan Ateskan Graduate School of Education, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey Abstract Objective: This study investigated Turkish high school students’ knowledge about risk factors for cancer, their interest in the disease, and their affective and behavioural attitudes towards it. Design: Quantitative survey. Setting: Data collection took place in three private schools in Central Turkey and one private school in Eastern Turkey. Method: Students (N = 275; 56% female students, 44% male students) completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire and described their level of knowledge regarding cancer risk factors, as well as their attitudes and interest in the disease. For data analysis, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, v.24.0) was used. Results: Results indicated that most students succeeded in identifying nearly all carcinogenic (except for overweight) and non-carcinogenic risk factors. In addition, while most participants held negative attitudes towards cancer, they typically did not exhibit cancer protective behaviours, and most participants were not interested in cancer as a topic. Conclusion: Exploring high school students’ levels of knowledge, attitudes and interests in regard to cancer may provide curriculum developers with information that enables the development of effective cancer education for Turkish high school students. Keywords Attitudes, cancer, high school students, knowledge, risk factors, Turkey Corresponding author: Ilgin Yildirim Usta, Graduate School of Education, Bilkent University, Main Campus-G Building, Bilkent, 06800 Ankara, Turkey. Email: ilginyildirimusta@alumni.bilkent.edu.tr 923724HEJ 0 0 10.1177/0017896920923724Health Education JournalYildirim Usta and Ateskan research-article 2020 Original Article