Screening practice and misplaced priorities.

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To estimate cancer screening coverage among a large sample of Greek individuals. METHODS: 7012 adults from 30 Hellenic areas were surveyed. Tests included faecal occult blood test, sigmoidoscopy,chest X-ray, urine test, testicular examination,trans-rectal ultrasound, full blood count, skin examination,digital rectal examination, PSA, Pap test, mammography,clinical breast examination (CBE), self breast examination and breast ultrasound. RESULTS: Eighty-eight percent of males and 93% of females declared being interested in cancer screening; 37.8% of men and 37.9% of women had had a medical consultation for screening purpose in the previous 2 years. Less than 2%reported having received screening for colorectal cancer or skin malignancies. Screening for cervical cancer, mammography and CBE was reported by 39.6%, 22.8% and 27.9% of females respectively. Twenty percent of males reported screening for prostate cancer. CONCLUSION: The actual opportunistic screening approach presents important deficiencies with displaced priorities in test performance and a low proportion of individuals undergoing recommended tests.