Perceptions of cancer risk factors and socioeconomic status. A French study

• Lay perceptions of cancer risk factors are embedded in social and cultural contexts.
• These perceptions reflect people's conceptions of one's body, health & illness.
• These perceptions are correlated to fatalistic attitudes and risk behaviors.
• SES disparities in such perceptions are predictive of health inequalities.

Objective: The present paper investigates on lay people's beliefs regarding cancer risk factors' and their correlates, especially people's socioeconomic status (SES), as they may heavily contribute to social health inequalities. Methods: We used data from the 2010 Baromètre Cancer, a national representative telephone survey conducted in France (N = 3359, age 15–75, participation rate 52%). Results: Respondents differentiate behavioral factors (smoking, drinking, unprotected sun exposure, etc.), environmental risk factors (air pollution, chemicals in food, etc.) and psychosocial risk factors (stress, painful experiences, etc.) for cancer. Those with a higher SES were more likely to emphasize behavioral and psychosocial factors, while those with an intermediate SES were more likely to do so for environmental ones. Perceived financial vulnerability was associated to higher perceptions for both environmental and psychosocial factors. After adjustment on socio-demographic background and SES, respondents who emphasized behavioral risk factors were less prone to endorse fatalistic attitudes (considering that nothing can be done to avoid cancer), while those who emphasized environmental risk factors were more prone to do so, and were also more frequently daily smokers. Conclusion: These results suggest that lay people's beliefs regarding cancer risk factors are shaped by their conceptions regarding one's body and health, and especially their health locus of control, as the tendency to either emphasize behavioral or environmental factors was correlated to fatalistic attitudes. Prevention campaigns designed to tackle lay people's perceptions regarding cancer risk factors should not consider they simply reflect ignorance or misinformation, as they are embedded in social and cultural contexts.