• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.264-272
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• 2022

Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has significantly disrupted cancer screening services worldwide. We aimed to measure the impact of COVID-19 on gastric cancer screening rates based on age, sex, household income, and residential area. Materials and Methods: We analyzed data from the Korean National Cancer Screening Survey from 2017 to 2021 for adults aged 40-74 years. We evaluated the gastric cancer screening rate within two years in accordance with the National Cancer Screening Program protocol recommendations and that within the previous year. We compared the trends in the pre- and post-COVID-19 outbreak periods. Results: Before the COVID-19 outbreak, there was little change in the gastric cancer screening rates until 2019. After the COVID-19 outbreak, the screening rate as per recommendation decreased from 70.8% in 2019 to 68.9% in 2020 and that for one year decreased from 32.7% in 2019 to 27.2% in 2020. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued after 2020, both gastric cancer screening rates as per recommendations and for one year rebounded. Although a similar trend was observed for the upper endoscopy screening rate, the upper gastrointestinal series screening rate decreased from 7.8% in 2020 to 3.1% in 2021. During the pandemic, the screening rate decreased among younger adults (40-49), those residing in metropolitan regions, and those with high incomes. Conclusions: Despite a decline in gastric cancer screening rate during the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate surged in 2021. Further studies are needed to estimate the impact of cancer screening delays on future cancer-related mortalities.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.296-303
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• 2017

Background: This study purposed to analyze regional factors related to gastric cancer screening rate provided by national cancer screening program in Korea. Methods: The unit of analysis was administrative districts of si gun gu level. Dependent variable was regional gastric cancer screening rate provided by national cancer screening program, and regional variables were selected to represent the regional characteristics such as demographic, health behavior and status, socioeconomic, and health resource. Tobit regression was applied for the analysis. Results: Analysis results showed that gastric cancer screening rate was varied depending on regions from 47.8% to 69.1%. Tobit regression showed that gastric cancer screening rate had negative relationships with smoking rate, financial independence rate, and National Health Insurance premium per capita. And regional gastric cancer screening rate had positive relationships with sex ratio and number of gastric cancer screening center. Conclusion: Regional characteristics should be considered in establishing regional policies for increasing the gastric cancer screening rate.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.141-146
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• 2023

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide. The occurrence of colon cancer can be prevented by removing precursor lesions. Several countries are making efforts to prevent the occurrence of colon cancer via screening programs. Korea is also following suite by screening individuals < 50 years of age. Currently, the incidence of colon cancer among the young is increasing globally, and Korea has a high colon cancer incidence rate among individuals in their 20s and 40s. Therefore, it may be necessary to start the screening individuals < 50 years of age to detect the cancer's manifestation early. Moreover, advanced adenomas associated with poor prognosis can be detected early, the overall screening rate can be increased, and death from colon cancer at a young age can be prevented. Although the period of colorectal cancer screening has been expanded, the overall colorectal cancer screening rate has not. Additionally, increasing the screening rate among individuals > 50 years could reduce the mortality rate at a lower cost. Although the incidence of colon cancer is increasing in younger individuals, the evidence to conclude that screening at the age of < 50 years has a meaningful impact on the incidence and survival rates of colon cancer remains insufficient. Therefore, rather than following the trend and performing screening early, an approach that actively selects cases where tests for colorectal cancer diagnosis are required is warranted.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.382-389
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• 2016

Background: National cancer screening reduces mortality from stomach, colon, breast, and cervical cancer. However, cancer screening rates remain lower than 50% in Korea. This research was designed to make effective guidelines for cancer screening promotion to increase participation rate in cancer screening. Methods: Data was collected from Incheon regional cancer center's telephone survey 'Recognition of cancer prevention and control' of 861 Incheon citizens over age 40. Logistic regression was used to analyse a relationships between cancer screening rates and promotional methods. PASW SPSS ver. 18.0 program (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for statistical analysis. Results: About 27.4% of respondents (236 of 861 respondents) have recognized the promotional program of Incheon regional cancer center for cancer screening participation. Cancer screening rate was associated with age group, educational level for stomach cancer, age group, bus advertisement (odds ratio, 1.19 to 2.75) for colon cancer, educational level, residential area for breast cancer, and age group for cervical cancer. Conclusion: There was relationship between stomach cancer screening rates and promotional methods. Therefore, cancer screening promotion guidelines to increase participation rate should be considered.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.364-372
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• 2000

Objectives : Cancer is the second most frequent cause of death in Korea. Cancer screening tests can save lives through early detection. Enhancing the cancer screening rate is an important strategy for reducing cancer mortality. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the screening rate and related factors in a rural area. The study investigated relationships between sociodemographic characteristics, several preventive behaviors, and the experience of several cancer screening behaviors. Materials and Methods : The study population was recruited voluntarily from the three rural areas(Myen) in Chungju city. The participants completed structured questionnaire from July 21, 1990 to July 26, 1998. Results : The proportions of the study population who had previously received stomach, liver, breast, or cervix cancer screening tests were 24.5%, 18.5%, 27.0%, 59.2% respectively. The 1-year screening rates of stomach, liver, breast, and cervix cancer were 7.4%, 6.8%, 8.6%, 15.6% respectively. In multivariate logistic analysis, some sociodemographic variables, preventive behaviors, or psychological variables were significantly associated with several cancer screening tests. Those who had previously received a stomach cancer screening test were significantly associated with the presence of chronic disease, physician's recommendation, use of alcohol family history of cancer, or previous liver cancer screening test. Those who had previously received a liver cancer screening test were associated with education level, physician's recommendation and previous stomach cancer screening test. Those who had received a cervix cancer screening test were significantly associated with education level, presence of a transportation vehicle, physician's recommendation use of alcohol and previous breast cancer screening test. And those who had received a previous breast cancer screening test were significantly associated with age, marital status, and earlier cervix cancer screening test. Conclusion : Based on the results of this study a strategy to promote cancer screening and health objectives at the district level can be made.

• The Journal of Korean Society for School & Community Health Education
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.53-65
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• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine the current status of cancer screening among subjects in the lung cancer screening cycle and to analyze the factors affecting the cancer screening of subjects in the lung cancer screening cycle. Methods: This study used the 'National Health and Nutrition Survey 7th Year (2017)' surveyed nationwide as the main data. The subjects are lung cancer screening projects, the dependent variable is early cancer screening, the independent variables are gender, age, marital status, household income level, education level, national health insurance type, private health insurance, The number of chronic diseases, general health examination, smoking status, drinking status, moderate intensity physical activity, stress perception rate, and weight control efforts were determined. Results: The results of this study showed that factors affecting early cancer screening of lung cancer screening subjects were gender, age, marital status, education level, national health insurance, smoking status, drinking status, moderate physical activity, and weight. Irrespective of the control effort, it was found that the private medical insurance, the number of chronic diseases, the medical examination, and the stress perception rate were affected. Conclusion: If the lung cancer screening subjects recognize the importance of early cancer screening themselves and create a social environment to increase their participation rate, lung cancer screening patients and their families will help them to live a healthy life.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.8
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• pp.3591-3592
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• 2015

Endoscopy has been increasingly used in clinical practice and as a standardized examination procedure for gastrointestinal diseases. However, only a few studies on endoscopic screening for evaluating mortality reduction from gastric cancer have been carried out. Even if a high detection rate is obtained in clinical practice, such a rate cannot be directly accepted as evidence providing the effectiveness of cancer screening. Endoscopic screening for gastric cancer is not an exception of possibility to detect overdiagnosis. If detection rate is used for the evaluation of the effectiveness of cancer screening, the possibility of overestimating the effectiveness of cancer screening cannot be ruled out. To avoid the effect of overdiagnosis and confirm the effectiveness of endoscopic screening, mortality reduction from gastric cancer must be carefully evaluated by conducting reliable studies. The burden of gastric cancer remains real and this cannot be ignored in Eastern Asian countries. To determine the best available method for gastric cancer screening, evaluation of its effectiveness is a must. Endoscopic screening for gastric cancer has shown promising results, and thus deserves further comprehensive evaluation to reliably confirm its effectiveness and how its optimal use can be strategically promoted.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.473-481
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• 2005

Objectives : We wanted to identify those factors associated with stomach, colon, breast and cervix cancer screening. Methods : A population-based telephone survey was conducted for 2 weeks (the 9th-23th of July, 2004) by trained interviewers with using a questionnaire. 2,598 respondents (females aged 30 years or over, and the males aged 40 years or over) were selected by random-digit dialing that was based on the 2000 Population and Housing Census. The data on socio-demographic, health behavior and enabling factors were collected. 2,571 respondents were included in analysis. The cancer screening rate was classified into 2 categories : the life time screening rate and the screening rate with recommendations. Results : For the 2,571 respondent s, the life time screening rate was as follows: 52.0% (Stomach), 25.3% (Colon), 55.9% (Breast) and 76.8% (Cervix). The screening rate with recommendation was as follows : 3 9.2% (Stomach), 20.6% (Colon), 42.5% (Breast) and 58.3% (Cervix). On a multiple logistic regression analysis of the life time screening, statistically significant relationships were observed for the screening intention, the health exam, the disease history, the age of the patients and the cancer screening rates. On a multiple logistic regression analysis of the screening with recommendation, statistically significant relationships were observed for the screening intention, the health exam, the age of the patients, the concern about the risk of cancer, the voluntary health insurance for cancer and the cancer screening rates. Conclusions : The results of this study suggest that the cancer screening intention, the health exam and the age of the patients are the most important factors to participate in life time cancer screening and also screening with recommendations. A positive association was also observed for the concern about the risk of cancer, the voluntary health insurance for cancer. It is hoped that this study will be a base line data for suggesting the representative cancer screening rate in Korea.

• Research in Community and Public Health Nursing
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2010

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare health promotion behavior in middle-aged rural residents by cancer screening participation. Methods: Data were collected from 508 rural residents during the period from April 6 to June 6, 2009 using structured questionnaires, and analyzed using SPSS/WIN 12.0. Results: The cancer screening rate was 50.2%. The rate was significantly different according to sex, educational level, marital status, private insurance, family cancer history, smoking, drinking, perceived health status, and health concern. Men showed the highest screening rate in gastroscopy for stomach cancer, and women in pap smear test for cervical cancer. Pap smear test for cervical cancer showed the highest regular screening rate (4.3%). The average score of health promotion behavior was $2.65{\pm}0.35$. Health promotion behavior was significantly different according to cancer screening participation, health responsibility, stress management, and self actualization. Conclusions: These results suggested that there may be differences in health promotion behavior among middle-aged rural residents according to their cancer screening participation. A further study is necessary to find effective interventions for the non-cancer screening group.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.8
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• pp.4897-4902
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• 2013

Here we assessed the effectiveness of cervical cancer screening using data from the Hiroshima Prefecture Cancer Registry regarding patient age at the start of screening and differences in screening intervals. A screening model was created to calculate the health status in relation to prognosis following cervical cancer screening and its influence on life expectancy. Epidemiological data on the mortality rate of cervical cancer by age groups and mortality rates from the Hiroshima Prefecture Cancer Registry were used for the model projections. Our results showed that life expectancy when screening rate was 100% compared with 0% was extended by approximately 1 month. Furthermore, when the incidence of cervical cancer was 0% compared with the screening rate was 100%, life expectancy was extended by a maximum of 3 months. Moreover, among individuals affected by cervical c ancer, a difference of 13 years in life expectancy was calculated between screened and unscreened groups.