Enthusiasm for Cancer Screening in the United States

作者：Lisa M. Schwartz · 发表于：JAMA · 年份：2004 · DOI：10.1001/jama.291.1.71 · 被引用次数：690 · 研究领域：Global Cancer Incidence and Screening、Colorectal Cancer Screening and Detection、BRCA gene mutations in cancer

CONTEXT: Public health officials, physicians, and disease advocacy groups have worked hard to educate individuals living in the United States about the importance of cancer screening. OBJECTIVE: To determine the public's enthusiasm for early cancer detection. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Survey using a national telephone interview of adults selected by random digit dialing, conducted from December 2001 through July 2002. Five hundred individuals participated (women aged > or =40 years and men aged > or =50 years; without a history of cancer). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Responses to a survey with 5 modules: a general screening module (eg, value of early detection, total-body computed tomography); and 4 screening test modules: Papanicolaou test; mammography; prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test; and sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. RESULTS: Most adults (87%) believe routine cancer screening is almost always a good idea and that finding cancer early saves lives (74% said most or all the time). Less than one third believe that there will be a time when they will stop undergoing routine screening. A substantial proportion believe that an 80-year-old who chose not to be tested was irresponsible: ranging from 41% with regard to mammography to 32% for colonoscopy. Thirty-eight percent of respondents had experienced at least 1 false-positive screening test; more than 40% of these individuals characterized that experience as "very scary" or the "scariest time of my life." Yet, looking b...