How are lung cancer risk perceptions and cigarette smoking related?—testing an accuracy hypothesis

Subjective risk perception, defined as “one’s belief about the likelihood or probability of harm, namely the probability that a health problem will be experienced if no precautions or behavioral changes occur (1)”, is an important theoretical construct in the field of cancer prevention and control. Subjective risk perception is often measured by absolute risk perception and relative (comparative) risk perception. The former examines a person’s perception of the likelihood that he or she will get a certain disease within a defined time period; the latter assesses how a person compares the likelihood that he or she will get a certain disease to the likelihood that similar others will get the disease over a defined time period (2-6)