Fluctuating Behavior of the French Population in Cancer Screening: 5th Edition of the EDIFICE Survey

Abstract

Background: The EDIFICE surveys have assessed cancer screening behavior in the French population since 2005.

Methods: The 2016 edition was conducted among a representative sample of 1501 individuals (age, 50-75 years). The current analysis focuses on breast, colorectal, prostate, lung, and cervical cancer screening.

Results: The rate of women (50 to 74 years) declaring having had at least one breast cancer screening test in their lifetime remained stable and high between 2005 and 2016. Compliance with recommended screening intervals improved between 2005 and 2011 from 75 to 83%, respectively, then decreased significantly to 75% in 2016 (P = 0.02). Uptake of at least one lifetime colorectal cancer screening test procedure declared (individuals aged 50-74 years) increase from 25% in 2005 to 59% in 2011, stabilized at 60% in 2014, then reached 64% in 2016. Opportunistic prostate cancer screening (men aged 50-75 years) rose between 2005 and 2008 from 36 to 49%, plateaued until 2014 then dropped to 42% in 2016. The proportion of women aged 50-65 declaring having undergone one cervical cancer screening test dropped significantly between 2014 and 2016 from 99 to 94% (P < 0.01). Lastly, 11% of our survey population in 2014 and 2016 (55-74 years) declared having already undergone lung cancer screening.

Conclusion: Cancer screening behavior fluctuates in France, regardless of the context, i.e., organized programs or opportunistic screening. This observation highlights the need for constant analysis of population attitudes to optimize public awareness campaigns.

Keywords: Cancer screening; Government program; Health behavior; Opinion pool.