Cancer Screening Findings in Korean People with Disabilities: 2016-2017

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Cancer screening programs are effective in the early detection of several cancers. This study aimed to identify the findings of cancer screenings that were conducted in 2016 and 2017.Methods/Statistical analysis: Sample were obtained from the National Health Insurance Service, and the cancer screening findings among both people with disabilities and those without were compared. Gastric, breast, colon, liver, and cervical cancer were analyze the findings of the screening programs. The findings were categorized as benign, suspicious of malignancy, or other categories (depending on type of cancer). Descriptive statistics and the X2-test were used to analyze the findings among the groups.Findings: The findings were as follows: For gastric cancer screenings, 0.30% in 2016 and 0.35% in 2017 of those screened who had brain injury were found to have gastric cancer, whereas 0.16% in 2016 and 0.15% in 2017 of those screened who were non-disabled where found to have gastric cancer (p<.001). For breast cancer screenings, 0.90% in 2016 and 0.54% in 2017 of those screened who had brain injury had findings that were suspicious of malignancy. For colon cancer screenings, 4.48% in 2016 of those screened who had brain injury were found to have colon cancer, whereas 3.70% in 2016 of those who were non-disabled were found to have colon cancer (p<.001). For liver cancer screenings, people with brain injury had the most findings that were suspicious of liver cancer in 2016 (p<.001), whereas people with physical impairment had the most findings that were suspicious of liver cancer in 2017 (p<.001). The non-disabled group had the highest incidence of carcinoma in situ among groups in 2016 (p<.001) and 2017 (p<.001).Improvements/Applications: Rigorous cancer screening programs should be implemented and expanded to include brain injury and physical impairment disabilities for the early detection of gastric, breast, colon, and liver cancer.