The prevalence of current smokers and alcohol drinkers among cancer survivors and subjects with no history of cancer among participants in a community‐based cardiometabolic screening program in Miyagi prefecture, Japan: a comparison with nationally representative surveys in other countries

BACKGROUND: We determined the prevalence of current cigarette smokers and alcohol drinkers among cancer survivors and subjects with no history of cancer in Japan and compared the findings with nationally representative studies in other countries. METHODS: We conducted a cross‐sectional study of baseline data from a prospective cohort study. A self‐administered questionnaire was surveyed during 2013–2015 with residents aged ≥20 years attending a community‐based cardiometabolic screening program in Miyagi prefecture in north‐eastern Japan. Subjects with past cancer histories were classified as cancer survivors. Sex‐specific, age‐standardized prevalence of current smokers, and drinkers were calculated. Age‐adjusted prevalence ratios (PRs: the cancer survivors’ rate divided by the rate of subjects with no history of cancer) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated with log‐binomial regressions. RESULTS: 36,786 subjects, including 2760 cancer survivors, responded and provided usable information (58.9% of recruited subjects). For men, the age‐standardized prevalence of current smokers and drinkers among survivors was 18.8% and 74.4%, respectively, with an age‐adjusted PR (95%CI) of 0.76 (0.66–0.86, p < 0.001) and 0.95 (0.91–0.98, p = 0.002), respectively. For women, the figures were 6.1%, 37.9%, 0.84 (0.67–1.06, p = 0.138) and 0.96 (0.90–1.03, p = 0.313), respectively. The U.S., the U.K, and Australian studies generally showed no substantially lower prevalence of current smokers or drinkers in survivors than in subjects with no history of cancer (PR ≥ 0.75), while Korean studies did (PR < 0.75). CONCLUSIONS: A considerable proportion of Japanese cancer survivors, especially men, remained currently smoking and drinking. Consistent with Western studies, the rates were not substantially lower than those among subjects with no history of cancer.