정영일1, 김홍수1,2, 최대성1

1서울대학교 보건대학원, 2서울대학교 보건환경연구소

Background: Cancer screening increases the likelihood of early detection and treatment of cancer, but the
screening rate in Korea is still suboptimal. The purpose of this study was to review the studies published in the last 10 years on the factors associated with cancer screening among Korean adults.
Methods: A literature search was conducted using the major medical and health-related databases (DBpia, KISS, RICH, National Assembly Library of Korea, and Pubmed) with a set of selected key words, as well as, inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total of 21 articles published from 2000 to 2010 were found. The factors reported in the reviewed studies were categorized into socio-demographic, enabling, and health behavioral factors, and their relationships to cancer screening were reviewed and summarized.
Results: Most of the published studies were cross-sectional studies, and only eight studies adopted a theoretical framework. All studies examined the relationships between socio-demographic factors and cancer screening, and most studies reported that these relationships were statistically insignificant. Health beliefs or perceptions were positively associated with cancer screening, although the number of relevant studies making this observation was small. Only three studies examined enabling factors.
Conclusions: More studies based on theoretical frameworks are needed on the factors associated with cancer screening. In particular, the impact of health behavioral and enabling factors on cancer screening should be examined further.
Korean J Health Promot 2010;10(4):185-194

Keywords: Cancer, Screening, Early detection of cancer, Review, Korea