Use of General Health Examination and Cancer Screening among People with Disability Who Need Support from Others: Analysis of the 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan

Abstract

Research on preventive healthcare services among people with disability in Japan is scarce. This study aimed to (1) examine the relationship between disability and the use of general health examination (GHE) and cancer screening (lung, gastric, colorectal, breast and cervical cancer) and (2) explore the reasons for not using GHE. This cross-sectional study used secondary data from individuals aged 20–74 years (n = 15,294) from the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions of 2016. Binomial logistic regression analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between disability and non-participation in preventive services. In addition, a descriptive analysis was conducted to explore the reasons for non-participation in GHE. Consequently, disability was identified as an independently associated factor for non-participation in GHE (odds ratios (OR): 1.73; 95% confidence interval (95%CI): 1.14–2.62) and screening for colorectal (OR: 1.78; 95%CI: 1.08–2.94), gastric (OR: 2.27; 95%CI: 1.27–4.05), cervical (OR: 2.12; 95%CI: 1.04–4.32) and breast cancer (OR: 2.22; 95%CI: 1.04–4.72), controlling for confounding factors. The most dominant reason for non-participation was “I can go to see the doctor anytime, if I am worried (25/54, 46.3%).” Our findings imply the existence of disability-based disparity in preventive healthcare service use in Japan.