[Cancer screening practices and associated lifestyles in population controls of the Spanish multi-case control study]

To estimate the prevalence of screening practices in the population controls of the multi-case control study (MCC-Spain) study and to evaluate its association with lifestyles.

We carried out a cross-sectional analysis of 1505 population controls of the MCC-Spain study, aged 20-85, enrolled from 2008-2010 in five areas of Spain. The prevalence of screening tests in the last 5 years was estimated and its association with lifestyles was assessed using logistic regression models.

The most prevalent tests were mammography (98.2%, age 50-69 years) and cytology (94.5%, age 25-65 years) in women and prostate-specific antigen in men (71.5%, age 50 or over). Participation in fecal occult blood testing was lower (11.2% and 16.2% in women and men aged 50-74, respectively). Eating at least three pieces of fruit and vegetables per day was associated with higher participation in mammography (ORa: 5.24, 95% CI: 1.96-14.07). In men, overweight-obesity was linked to higher participation in prostate-specific antigen testing (ORa: 1.88; 95% CI: 1.15-3.08). In general, the presence of comorbidities was associated with utilization of cancer screening tests.

The prevalence of screening practices was high for breast, cervical and prostate cancer and was low for colorectal cancer. No common lifestyle patterns were associated with participation, although differences were found by sex and type of screening test. These results may be useful to guide further studies on screening practices and review possible inefficiencies.