Factors Associated with the Use of Gastric Cancer Screening Services in Korea: The Fourth Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008 (KNHANES IV)

Objectives: Despite government efforts to increase participation in gastric cancer screening, the rateis still suboptimal in Korea. Therefore, we explored barriers to and predictors of gastric cancer screeningparticipation among a nationally representative sample.
Methods: We used the Health Interview Surveysub-dataset derived from the Fourth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2008(KNHANES IV) to evaluate participation in gastric cancer screening and factors associated with attendancein individuals age ≥40 years. We enrolled 4,464 subjects who completed the questionnaire and were notpreviously diagnosed with gastric cancer. Four groups of factors were considered potential predictorsof gastric cancer screening in a multivariate analysis: sociodemographic, health behavior, psychologicaland cognitive, and dietary factors.
Results: Overall, 41.3% complied with the gastric cancer screeningrecommendations. Younger age, lower education level, living without a spouse, frequent binge drinker, andcurrent smoker were significantly associated with less participation in gastric cancer screening.
Conclusions:To improve participation in gastric cancer screening, more focused interventions should be directed tovulnerable populations, such as groups with low socioeconomic status or unhealthy behavior. In addition,there should be new promotional campaigns and health education to provide information targeting thesevulnerable populations.