Cancer Screening Abstinence Rates and Rationales Among Regular Outpatients at a Rural Hospital in Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Purpose

This study aimed to investigate cancer screening rates and the reasons for not undergoing screening among patients who regularly visited the Sanmu Medical Center.

Patients and Methods

This prospective observational study recruited patients aged ≥40 years with regular clinic visits to Sanmu Medical Center during October 2019. We conducted a self-administered survey to determine the patient’s sex and whether they underwent cancer screening in 2019, and if not, the reason for the same. The primary outcome measure was the percentage of people who did not undergo cancer screening.

Results

A total of 198 responses (108 male respondents) were obtained. Among them, 189 were valid responses (valid response rate 94.5%). One hundred and twenty-nine patients (68.2%, 76 male) had not undergone screening. The most common reasons provided were “I have regular regular clinic visits and do not think they are necessary” (N = 65, 50.3%), “I underwent a gastroscopy within 2 years, a colorectal camera examination within a few years, and a chest radiography within a year” (42.5%), and “I have a separate complete medical checkup” (N = 15, 11.6%). Of the 65 patients who responded that their cancer screenings were unnecessary, 42 patients (64.6%) had not undergone a gastroscopy within 2 years, a colorectal camera examination within a few years, or a chest radiography or examination within a year.

Conclusion

Roughly half of the respondents who did not undergo cancer screening elected to abstain because they believed that regular hospital visits were sufficient. Encouraging patients who regularly visit medical institutions to receive cancer screening is therefore necessary.

Keywords:

• cancer screening
• internal medicine
• non-consultation
• rural medicine

Ethics Approval Statement

This research was performed following the Declaration of Helsinki and approved by the Ethics committee/Institutional Review Board Sanmu Medical Center (Chiba, Japan).

Patient Consent Statement

The researchers provided an explanation to the participants and obtained their informed and voluntary consent. All patients provided written consent.

Author Contributions

All authors made a significant contribution to the work reported with respect to the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation. All authors contributed to drafting, revising, or critically reviewing the article, and gave their final approval of the version submitted for publication. All authors have agreed on the journal for submission and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

The authors declare no conflicts of interest in this work.

Additional information

Funding

There is no funding to report.