Breast Cancer Screening Participation of Women with Chronic Diseases in Korea: Analysis of the 2012 Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

Chronic disease morbidity is a concern for cancer research. Contradictory results have been reported concerning adherence to breast cancer screening among patients with chronic diseases. The study was conducted to assess the adherence to breast cancer screening among women with chronic diseases in Korea. It was a cross sectional and population based study; the data came from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) 2012. Participation in breast cancer screening was analyzed among women who had at least one of eight chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes, cancer, dyslipidemia, stroke, depression, osteoarthritis and asthma). Pearson’s chi-squared test and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed using STATA version 14. A total 2,404 women aged 40 years or older were included in analysis. Among them, 77.3% had experienced breast cancer screening. In logistic regression model, adherence to breast cancer screening was lower in women who have ever been diagnosed as diabetes mellitus (odds ratio (OR)= 0.47, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) = 0.31-0.72), asthma (OR=0.44, 95%CI=0.24-0.82) and higher in women who have ever been diagnosed as dyslipidemia (OR= 1.85, 95%CI= 1.27-2.69), osteoarthritis (OR= 1.42, 95%CI= 1.31-2.06) and cancers (OR= 2.70, 95%CI= 1.26-5.79) compared to women without those chronic diseases. Based on treatment of chronic diseases, lower participation in breast cancer screening was observed in women who were on treatment of diabetes mellitus (OR= 0.48, 95%CI= 0.31-0.74), asthma (OR= 0.41, 95%CI= 0.15-0.92) and stroke (OR= 0.37, 95%CI= 0.14-0.97), and higher in women who were on treatment of dyslipidemia (OR= 1.37, 95%CI=1.42-2.14). In conclusion, low participation rate in breast cancer screening in women with some chronic diseases was identified. The results from this study may provide an important contribution for helping to maintain and increase participation in cancer screening of patients with chronic diseases.