Breast and cervical cancer screening adherence in Jiangsu, China: An ecological perspective

High screening coverage can effectively reduce the mortality in breast and cervical cancer. Further research on extending the coverage of breast and cervical cancer screening in China is required. This study explored factors influencing women's "two-cancer" screening service utilization using an ecological approach.

Data were obtained from the National Health Services Survey (NHSS) conducted in 2018 in Jiangsu, China. A total of 3,500 women aged 18-64 years were included in the analysis. Chi-squared test, hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis, and binary logistic regression analysis were performed.

In total, 44.1% of the women had been screened for breast cancer (BC) and 40.9% for cervical cancer (CC). Breast cancer screening (BCS) and cervical cancer screening (CCS) differed significantly in the following common categories: age, gestational experiences, chronic disease status, body mass index (BMI), exercise, health checkup, marital status, number of children, employment, education, family doctors, and health records. In the results of hierarchical multiple logistic regression analysis, the explanatory power of the final model was 37.5% and the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.812. The results showed that being in the age group of 35-64 years, having gestational experiences, having chronic diseases, exercising, having a health checkup, being married, having children, and being employed were statistically significant positive predictors of "two-cancer" screening adherence. The household size was a barrier. For BCS, obesity was also a negative factor, and a higher overall self-related health status was a positive factor. Being married and living in households of three or more families were not predictors. For CCS, having health records was also positively significant, while having chronic disease did not influence adherence.

The findings provide an ecological explanation for women's BCS and CCS service utilization. Both proximal and distal factors should be considered to achieve a high coverage rate.