PURPOSE: To examine the association between U.S. adult cancer information seekers' comprehension level and preventable cancer risk factors. DESIGN: Cross-sectional analysis. SETTING: Health Information National Trends Survey-6, 2022. SUBJECTS: 2,453 cancer information seekers. MEASURES: Four cancer risk factors were dichotomized: cigarette smoking (have smoked ≥100 cigarettes and currently smoke every day/some days)
experiencing sunburn (≥1 times/past 12 months)
being overweight/obese (≥25 body mass index [kg/m ANALYSIS: Binomial and multinomial logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine the association of cancer information comprehension level with individual and cumulative cancer risk factors, adjusting for sex, race/ethnicity, age, annual household income, education level, metropolitan status, depressed mood, and cancer diagnosis history. RESULTS: Cancer information seekers with comprehension difficulties had higher odds of binge drinking (aOR: 1.66, 95% CI: 1.12, 2.46), being overweight/obese (aOR: 1.46, 95% CI: 1.09, 1.96), and experiencing sunburn (aOR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.23, 2.11), as well as having ≥3 (aOR: 3.38, 95% CI: 1.87, 6.09) cancer risk factors concurrently than cancer information seekers without comprehension difficulties. CONCLUSION: Dissemination of easy-to-understand cancer information would help better prevent cancer risk factors for cancer information seekers with comprehension difficulties.