Study: Men More Likely to Skip Cancer Screenings

According to a new study on men’s willingness to go for cancer screenings, it was found that men are less likely to get themselves screened for cancer, despite the fact that they are more likely to get afflicted.  Motiff Cancer Centre in Tampa, Fla. conducted the study by its department of health. The corresponding author of the study Jenna Davis said that their findings indicate that there is need for promotion of cancer screening among men.

The research was conducted through a telephone survey among 1,150 people in the cities of Baltimore, New York, Puerto Rico and San Juan. 35 percent of the participants were men and aged between 30 and 50. They were made to answer cancer screening questionnaire. The beliefs and attitudes of men with regards to cancer screening were evaluated by analysing the response of the questions.

The reasons suggested by the researchers after such analysis of the respondents, for men to behave the way they do are:

• Most cancer awareness programmes in the Media are about women’s breast cancer.
• No campaigns for male breast cancer awareness sponsored by the government.
• Women may be naturally more inclined to take care of their health. This is confirmed by the fact that they see their primary care doctor more often.

Another aspect of the research was to gauge whether men become more interested in getting screened when information is provided them about the risks. When the details of the cancer screening procedures are provided to such men, they are more likely than women to start participating in screening for cancer.

In view of the above mentioned finding, it becomes all the more pertinent on the government and related health authorities to press for more campaigns for cancer awareness in men. It should include educators, physicians and community-based organisations. They should start a more concerted effort to educate men on screening procedures, give more information of detecting cancer, details of screening procedures, and also about what is expected during a screening procedure.

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