School of Chemical Sciences and Pharmacy, University of East Anglia, UK.
BMC Public Health. 2009 Nov 24;9:431. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-9-431.
Cancer screening programmes in England are publicly-funded. Professionals' beliefs in the public health benefits of screening can conflict with individuals' entitlements to exercise informed judgement over whether or not to participate. The recognition of the importance of individual autonomy in decision making requires greater understanding of the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs upon which people's screening choices are founded. Until recently, the technology available required that cancer screening be confined to women. This study aimed to discover whether male and female perceptions of cancer and of screening differed.
Data on the public's cancer beliefs were collected by means of a postal survey (anonymous questionnaire). Two general practices based in Nottingham and in Mansfield, in east-central England, sent questionnaires to registered patients aged 30 to 70 years. 1,808 completed questionnaires were returned for analysis, 56.5 per cent from women.
Women were less likely to underestimate overall cancer incidence, although each sex was more likely to cite a sex-specific cancer as being amongst the most common cancer site. In terms of risk factors, men were most uncertain about the role of stress and sexually-transmitted diseases, whereas women were more likely to rate excessive alcohol and family history as major risk factors. The majority of respondents believed the public health care system should provide cancer screening, but significantly more women than men reported having benefiting from the nationally-provided screening services. Those who were older, in better health or had longer periods of formal education were less worried about cancer than those who had illness experiences, lower incomes, or who were smokers. Actual or potential participation in bowel screening was higher amongst those who believed bowel cancer to be common and amongst men, despite women having more substantial worries about cancer than men.
Our results suggest that men's and women's differential knowledge of cancer correlates with women's closer involvement with screening. Even so, men were neither less positive about screening nor less likely to express a willingness to participate in relevant screening in the future. It is important to understand gender-related differences in knowledge and perceptions of cancer, if health promotion resources are to be allocated efficiently.
英格兰的癌症筛查计划由公共资金资助。专业人士对筛查带来的公共卫生益处的信念可能与个人是否参与的知情判断权利相冲突。对决策中个人自主权的重视要求我们更深入地了解人们进行筛查选择所依据的知识、态度和信念。直到最近，可用的技术还要求将癌症筛查仅限于女性。本研究旨在发现男性和女性对癌症和筛查的看法是否存在差异。
通过邮寄调查（匿名问卷）收集公众对癌症的看法的相关数据。位于英格兰中东部诺丁汉和曼斯菲尔德的两家全科医生诊所向年龄在 30 至 70 岁的注册患者发送了问卷。共收回 1808 份有效问卷，其中 56.5%来自女性。
尽管每种性别都更有可能将一种特定性别的癌症列为最常见的癌症部位，但女性不太可能低估总体癌症发病率。在危险因素方面，男性最不确定压力和性传播疾病的作用，而女性更有可能将过量饮酒和家族史视为主要危险因素。大多数受访者认为公共医疗保健系统应该提供癌症筛查，但报告受益于国家提供的筛查服务的女性明显多于男性。那些年龄较大、身体状况较好或接受正规教育时间较长的人比有疾病经历、收入较低或吸烟的人对癌症的担忧程度较低。那些认为肠癌较为常见的人以及男性实际或潜在参与肠癌筛查的可能性更高，尽管女性对癌症的担忧程度比男性更高。
我们的研究结果表明，男性和女性对癌症的认识差异与女性对筛查的密切参与有关。尽管如此，男性对筛查既不持否定态度，也不倾向于表示未来愿意参与相关筛查。如果要有效地分配健康促进资源，了解与性别相关的癌症知识和认知差异非常重要。
