Impact of Job Status on Accessibility of Cancer Screening

Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide with approximately 75,000 cancer deaths in Korea alone in 2013. Cancer screening is an important method of prevention; however, only 63.4% of Koreans sought cancer screening in 2012 even though it was widely offered at no cost. We focused on part time workers because they often experience job instability and relative discrimination. Therefore, we investigated the correlation between job status and cancer screening.

Data from the 2013 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) were used for selection of individuals who participated in the national cancer screening program. A total of 1,326 wage earners were selected for our study. The association between cancer screening and part time job status was examined using logistic regression models.

Of the 1,326 individuals selected for the study, 869 (64.5%) had participated in the cancer screening program; among these, 421 (48.4%) were part time workers and 448 (51.6%) were full time workers. Lower prevalence of cancer screening was observed for part time workers compared to full time workers (odds ratio, 0.72; confidence interval, 0.53 to 1.00; p=0.0495). Factors including age, marital status, private insurance, chronic disease, smoking, and residential area emerged as showed significant association with participation in screening programs.

We found that part time workers had difficulty participating in prevention programs. Change in the workplace environment as well as development of positive social programs targeted to part time workers is necessary in order to encourage participation of part time workers in prevention programs.