Abstract: Objective To understand the current situation of health literacy of malignant tumor prevention and treatment and demands among residents in Zhengzhou, and analyze its influencing factors, so as to provide reference for developing and formulating health policies related to cancer prevention and treatment. Methods Using the multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method, residents aged ≥ 18 years old in Zhengzhou were selected to conduct a questionnaire survey on tumor prevention and health literacy from June 2020 to March 2021, and the relevant influencing factors were analyzed according to the sociodemographic characteristics and data of the included objects. Results A total of 3 218 respondents were included, of which 43.04% had basic health literacy of tumor prevention and treatment. The health literacy rates of tumor prevention awareness and the awareness of early detection, early diagnosis and early treatment （“three early” awareness） were 65.12% and 37.61% respectively. The results of multivariate analysis showed that female （OR=1.857）, age （OR=0.803）, educational level （OR=1.296, 1.204, 1.415）, occupational status （OR=1.156, 0.787）, annual family income （OR=1.230, 1.391, 1.528）, suffering from malignant tumors （OR=2.812） and the education of tumor prevention and treatment （OR=3.908） were influencing factors of the health literacy level of tumor prevention and treatment in Zhengzhou. Conclusion The health literacy level of malignant tumor prevention and treatment of residents in Zhengzhou is low. Moreover, the awareness of malignant tumor prevention and “three early” awareness are relatively unbalanced. Medical workers should focus on strengthening the “three early” awareness education of residents, comprehensively consider the sociodemographic characteristics of patients, focus on high-risk groups, and carry out targeted health education of prevention and treatment.

Key words: Malignant tumor, Health literacy, Awareness of prevention, Influencing factor