[Participation in organized screening for bowel cancer and screening for prostate cancer]

Prostate and bowel cancers are with lung cancer the most frequent and most deadly cancers in men in France. Despite evidence of the effectiveness of screening for bowel cancer, the rates of population participation in organized screening programs remain low. Conversely, many men have a PSA blood test to detect prostate cancer, although this technique is not recommended by French health authorities.

The aim of this work was to identify among the characteristics of screening programs for prostate and bowel cancers those which constituted brakes or, on the contrary, engines to the participation of men in order to try to explain the differences participation between these screenings.

1,008 men aged 50-74 were questioned on their preferences for participating in cancers screening using a discrete choice experiment. Responses were analyzed using qualitative regression models with random effects.

The results did not show any major differences between the participation processes in these two screenings. They confirmed the central role of information provided by the physician in decision-making. They also revealed a surprising attitude of men with regard to the risk of overdiagnosis which invites to think about the understanding and the perception by the population of this notion of overdiagnosis in the cancer screening.