Effects of Economic Status on Cancer Prevention Knowledge, Healthy Behavior and Cancer Checkup Rate in Japan

Objective: In recent years, the economic inequalities have been widening rapidly in Japan. Past researches have reported that financial disparities as such often affect people’s health status. The purpose of this study is to investigate how economic status is relevant to cancer knowledge, healthy behavior and cancer checkup rate. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted on 6,004 residents of Yokohama city andOyama city, Japan, who were sampled according to sex and age distributions. Participants aged between 35 and 65 were divided into two groups according to their subjective economic status; with or without affluence feeling. Nearly 35% of the participants answered that they possess no feeling of affluence. This group demonstrated lower education levels, lower rate of regular employment and marriage than the group with affluent feeling. They tend to have poorer cancer knowledge, eat fewer vegetables, smoke, have unhealthy body weight and receive fewer cancer checkups compared to the affluent group. Data analyses were conducted using STATA version 11.0. All tests were two-sided with a significance level of 5%.Results: A strong correlation between relative economic comfort and cancer prevention knowledge, behavior and lifestyle customs is evident. People who not have affluent feelingtend to know less about cancer risks, have unhealthy diets and smoking habit, and receive fewer cancer checkups. Discussion: A significant correlation exits between economic comfort and cancer prevention behaviors in Japan. Social and economic approaches may be necessary to increase cancer checkup rates and promote healthy lifestyle.