Smoking pattern and risk of lung cancer among women participating in cancer screening programmes

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to describe the smoking prevalence, the smoking pattern, and the risk of lung cancer among women who participated in a cancer screening (breast, cervical and colorectal) in Spain.

Methods: We used data from the Spanish National Health Survey of 2011-12, a cross-sectional study of the adult Spanish population from women in the age of participation in the population cancer screening. We used two definitions of the high risk of lung cancer according to the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) criteria and the NELSON criteria.

Results: Participation in screening was 76.6% in breast cancer, 6.6% in colorectal cancer, and 70.3% in cervical cancer. The percentage of current smokers was 17.1 of women who participated breast cancer, 15.4 of women who participated colorectal cancer, and 26.1 of women who participated cervical cancer. According to NLST criteria, the percentage of current smokers women who had a high risk of lung cancer was 23.1 for breast cancer, 23.5 for colorectal cancer and 4.5 for cervical cancer. These figures were higher with the NELSON criteria.

Conclusion: At least 250 000 women in Spain have a high risk of lung cancer and are participating in a cancer screening programme. These programmes might be an opportunity for implementing specific interventions aiming to reduce this risk.

Keywords: high risk of lung cancer; preventive medicine; primary Health care; screening; smoking cessation.