Abstract
Background: The objective of this study is to determine the effect of nursing education on awareness of risk factors for colorectal cancer. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, the sample is consisted of 132 volunteer students studying in the 1st and 4th grades of School of Health Nursing Department during the fall semester of 2014-2015. Data were collected via a questionnaire including information on the socio-demographic features of the participants and the correlating risk factors of colorectal cancer, prepared by researchers in view of the literature. The questionnaire was distributed to students and completed during class time. Before presenting the questionnaires to the respondents, informed consent was obtained from each. The data obtained were analyzed with a statistical package (SPSS). At first, a Kolmogorov-Smirnow test was performed on the research data. However, since it was seen that variables did not have a normal distribution, the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test was applied. P values of <0.05 were considered statistically significant. Percentages, means and standard deviations were also utilized for evaluation. Results: Of the total of 132 students participating in this study, 85.6% (n=113) were female, and 14.4% (n=19) were male. The average age was $20.5{\pm}2.04$. 54.5 % of the students (n=72) were 4th graders and 45.5 % (n=60) were first graders. Total score averages of first graders on risk awareness was $X=12{\pm}7.24$, and fourth graders was $X=16.93{\pm}7.71$. The difference between these two scores were found to be statistically significant (Z= -9,333; p=0.000). Conclusions: Nursing education was found out to have a positive influence on the students' awareness of risk factors for colorectal cancer.