Sociodemographic correlates of cervix, breast and oral cancer screening among Indian women
Open accessAbstract
Introduction: Cervix, breast and oral cancers account for about one-third of all cancers in India which as a group is a major contributor to all non-communicable disease-related morbidity and mortality among women. Existing evidence suggests that early diagnosis plays a pivotal role in the prevention and intervention of these cancers, and many community-based early screening and awareness programs have been in place in developed countries. Currently, there is not enough research evidence regarding the sociodemographic correlates of cervix, breast and oral cancer screening among Indian women. In the present study, we aimed to assess the self-reported percentage and sociodemographic factors associated with the use of these three types of cancer screening services among Indian women aged 15–49 years. Methods: Data were collected from National Family Health Survey conducted during 2015–16. Sample population was 699,686 women aged 15–49 years. Associations between self-reported cervical, breast and oral cancer screening status and the associated sociodemographic factors were analyzed using multivariable logistic regression methods. Results: The percentage of screening for cervical (21%), breast (8.95%), and oral cancers (13.45%) varied significantly across the population sub-groups. Higher age, urban residence, higher education, having employment, health insurance, use of electronic media, higher household wealth quintile, having healthcare autonomy, showed a positive effect on taking screening services. Further analyses revealed that the strength of the associations varied considerably between urban and rural residents, denoting the need for region-specific intervention strategies. Sex of household head, age, watching TV, using radio, and having health insurance were the most significant contributors to the outcome effects. Conclusions: The present study provides important insights regarding the current scenario of seeking cancer screening services among women in India. These findings could inform policy analysis and make an avenue for further in-depth analysis for future studies. Our findings conclude that cancer prevention policies should focus on leveraging the positive effects of better socioeconomic status, employment, health insurance ownership, exposure to electronic media, and better healthcare autonomy to improve the cancer screening service uptake among Indian women.
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The efficacy of opportunistic screening strategies is often mediated by complex socio-demographic disparities.
“However, the efficacy of these strategies is often mediated by complex socio-demographic disparities.”
From Integrating a “see-and-treat” approach with opportunistic human papilloma virus deoxyribonucleic acid (HPV DNA) based cervical cancer screening in India: a retrospective cross-sectional study (2026) · cites this paper as [15]
The Discussion (page unavailable) says sociodemographic factors are associated with, and can constrain, cancer-screening uptake among Indian women. It does not specifically study opportunistic screening or measure strategy efficacy; it also cautions that its cross-sectional data cannot establish causal effects. Thus it supports the disparity point, but not the claim that disparities mediate the efficacy of those strategies. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Changkun, Z., Bishwajit, G., Ji, L., & Tang, S.
- Affiliations
- Women's Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University (CN)
- Huazhong University of Science and Technology (CN)
- Venue
- PLOS ONE
- Publisher
- Public Library of Science (PLoS)
- Published
- 2022-05-11
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- e0265881
- ISSN
- 1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9094566
- OpenAlex
- W4280517781
- Cited by
- 30
- References
- 42
- Citations by year
- 2026: 7 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 1
- FWCI
- 5.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Women's cancer prevention and management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Global Cancer Incidence and Screening
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Cervical Cancer and HPV Research
- Keywords
- cervical cancer screening, breast cancer screening, oral cancer screening, cancer screening uptake, sociodemographic factors, Indian women, urban-rural disparities, health insurance, electronic media use, socioeconomic status, National Family Health Survey
- MeSH terms
- Breast Neoplasms, Uterine Cervical Neoplasms, Cervix Uteri, Female, Humans, Mass Screening, Mouth Neoplasms, Socioeconomic Factors, Early Detection of Cancer
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