National survey finds U.S. public enthusiastic about cancer...( eport that Less than one third believ...),Health

eport that, "Less than one third believe there will be a time when they will stop undergoing routine screening. A substantial proportion believe that an 80-year-old who chose not to be tested was irresponsible: ranging from 41 percent with regard to mammography to 32 percent for colonoscopy. Thirty-eight percent of respondents had experienced at least one false-positive screening test; more than 40 percent of these individuals characterized that experience as 'very scary' or the 'scariest time of my life.'" Still, 98 percent of those respondents were glad they had the initial screening test, the research found.

Most respondents wanted to know about the presence of a cancer, regardless of its implications: two-thirds said they would want to be tested for a cancer even if nothing could be done; and 56 percent would want to be tested for "pseudodisease," cancers growing so slowly that they would never cause problems even if untreated.

Moreover, the researchers report great interest in the total body computed tomographic (CT) screening, although no data support its benefit or safety, and it is not endorsed by any professional medical organization. Almost 75 percent of those surveyed would choose a total body CT scan over receiving $1,000 in cash.

"Some clinicians will see our results as welcome evidence of the success of public health campaigns for widely recommended cancer screening tests," the researchers write. "Others 'will see disturbing evidence that these same campaigns have communicated a misleadingly simple and one-sided message' a message that discourages meaningful discussions about the use of these tests in settings when the recommendations are less clear (e.g., screening at younger ages, at advanced age, or for individuals with multiple comorbidities [illnesses]." The public is primed to believe that there is value in having any test that is marketed as being able to find early cancer, suggest the authors. They conc
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Contact: Andy Nordhoff
DMS.Communications@Dartmouth.edu
603-650-1492
Dartmouth Medical School
6-Jan-2004

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