Background: Follow-up clinical consultations could improve overall health status as well provide knowledge and education for cancer prevention.
Materials and methods: This is the cross-sectional study using the Korean Community Health Survey (KCHS) 6th edition for 2012, with 115,083 respondents who underwent cancer checkups selected as subjects. Associations between the presence of consultation and the socioeconomic status were determined using statistical methods with the SAS 9.3 statistical package (Cary, NC, USA).
Findings: Among the recipients, 32,179 (28.0%) received clinical consultations after cancer screenings. Those in rural areas (odds ratio, OR=0.71, 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.69-0.73) visited follow-up clinics less frequently than did those in urban areas. Starting at the elementary school level, as the education level increased to middle school (OR=1.26, 95% CI: 1.19-1.34), high school (OR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.23-1.36) or college (OR=1.76, 95% CI: 1.65-1.89), the participation rates also increased. When compared with the lowest quartile group, the quartile income level showed a statistical trend and difference as follows: second lowest quartile (OR=1.11, 95% CI: 1.07-1.16), third lowest (OR=1.12, 95% CI: 1.07-1.17) and highest quartile income (OR=1.29, 95% CI: 1.23-1.35). In addition, the people with economic activities (OR=0.87, 95% CI: 0.84-0.90) visited follow-up clinics less frequently than did the others. Current smokers (OR=0.93, 95% CI: 0.89-0.98) and inveterate drinkers (OR=0.88, 95% CI: 0.85-0.94) had a tendency to visit less often than did non-smokers and other drinkers with all cancers combined.
Interpretation: We suggest primary prevention through lifestyle modifications including smoking and drinking, and environmental interventions may offer the most cost-effective approach to reduce the cancer burden.