Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Associations among family history of cancer, cancer screening and lifestyle behaviors: a population-based study

  • Original paper
  • Published:
Cancer Causes & Control Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Some cancers are largely preventable through modification of certain behavioral risk factors and preventive screening, even among those with a family history of cancer. This study examined the associations between (1) family cancer history and cancer screening, (2) family history and cancer preventive lifestyle behaviors, and (3) cancer screening and lifestyle behaviors.

Methods

Data were from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (n = 12,603). Outcomes included screening for breast cancer (BC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) and six cancer preventive lifestyle behaviors, based on World Cancer Research Fund recommendations. Multivariate logistic regression analyses, stratified by gender and race–ethnicity, examined associations. Predicted probabilities of cancer screening by family cancer history, race–ethnicity, and sex were computed.

Results

Family history of site-specific cancer—CRC for men and women, and BC for women—was associated with higher probability of cancer screening for most groups, especially for CRC, but was largely unrelated to other lifestyle behaviors. In the few cases in which family history was significantly associated with lifestyle—for example, physical activity among White and Latino males, smoking among White and Asian females—individuals with a family history had lower odds of adherence to recommendations than those with no family history. Greater overall adherence to lifestyle recommendations was associated with higher odds of up-to-date CRC screening among White and Asian males, and lower odds among Asian females (no significant association with BC screening); this relationship did not vary by family cancer history.

Conclusion

The fact that family history of cancer is not associated with better lifestyle behaviors may reflect shared behavioral risks within families, or the lack of knowledge about how certain lifestyle behaviors impact personal cancer risk. Findings can inform interventions aimed at lifestyle behavioral modification for individuals at increased cancer risk due to family history.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. We use the WCRF/AICR recommendation cutoff for full adherence of 300 moderate-equivalent minutes/week in analyses shown here, but also conducted sensitivity analyses using the American Cancer Society recommendation of at least 150 moderate-equivalent minutes/week. Some associations are lost when using the dichotomous ACS cutoff; thus, we chose to use the more nuanced measure in final analyses.

References

  1. Kushi LH et al (2012) American Cancer Society guidelines on nutrition and physical activity for cancer prevention. CA Cancer J Clin 62(1):30–67

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. World Cancer Research Fund International American Institute for Cancer Research (2007) Food, nutrition and the prevention of cancer: a global perspective. AICR, Washington

  3. Hemminki K, Sundquist J, Bermejo JL (2008) How common is familial cancer? Ann Oncol 19(1):163–167

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Slattery ML et al (2003) Family history and colorectal cancer: predictors of risk. Cancer Causes Control 14(9):879–887

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Valdez R et al (2010) Family history in public health practice: a genomic tool for disease prevention and health promotion. Annu Rev Public Health 31(1):69–87

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Bastani R et al (2008) Validation of self-reported colorectal cancer (CRC) screening in a study of ethnically diverse first-degree relatives of CRC cases. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 17(4):791–798

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Bastani R et al (1999) Tailored risk notification for women with a family history of breast cancer. Prev Med 29(5):355–364

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Glenn BA et al (2011) Changes in risk perceptions in relation to self-reported colorectal cancer screening among first-degree relatives of colorectal cancer cases enrolled in a randomized trial. Health Psychol 30(4):481–491

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Martínez-Ochoa E et al (2012) Influence of family history of colorectal cancer on health behavior and performance of early detection procedures: the SUN Project. Ann Epidemiol 22(7):511–519

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Ponce NA et al (2012) Disparities in cancer screening in individuals with a family history of breast or colorectal cancer. Cancer 118(6):1656–1663

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Townsend JS et al (2013) Health behaviors and cancer screening among Californians with a family history of cancer. Genet Med Adv 15(3):212–221

    Google Scholar 

  12. Madlensky L et al (2005) Preventive health behaviors and familial breast cancer. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 14(10):2340–2345

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Yoon PW et al (2002) Can family history be used as a tool for public health and preventive medicine? Genet Med 4(4):304

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Claassen L et al (2010) Using family history information to promote healthy lifestyles and prevent diseases; a discussion of the evidence. BMC Public Health 10(1):248

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Berrigan D et al (2003) Patterns of health behavior in U.S. adults. Prev Med 36(5):615–623

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Kaczynski AT et al (2008) Smoking and physical activity: a systematic review. Am J Health Behav 32(1):93–110

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. California Health Interview Survey (2011a) Report 1—sample design, in CHIS 2009 methodology series, UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, Editor. UCLA, Los Angeles

  18. California Health Interview Survey (2011b) Report 4—response rates, in California Health Interview Survey 2009 Methodology report series, U.C.f.H.P. Research, Editor. UCLA, Los Angeles

  19. National Cancer Institute. Health Information National Trends Survey (2003) Final report 2003. Available from: http://hints.cancer.gov/docs/HINTS_2003_final_report.pdf. Cited 8 Sep 2012

  20. US Preventive Services Task Force (2012) Recommendations for Adults. Available from: http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/adultrec.htm. Cited 9 Aug 2012

  21. US Preventive Services Task Force (2009) Screening for breast cancer. Available from: http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/uspsbrca.htm

  22. StataCorp (2011) Stata statistical software: release 12. StataCorp LP, College Station

  23. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012) Cancer Screening—United States, 2010. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 61(3)

  24. US Department of Health and Human Services (2013) Percentage of adults who receive colorectal cancer screening as appropriate: National Health Interview Survey. Available from: https://healthmeasures.aspe.hhs.gov/measure/25#additionalInformation. Cited 26 Mar 2013

  25. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2010) Behavioral risk factor surveillance system survey data. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/cancer/colorectal/statistics/screening_rates.htm. Cited 26 Mar 2013

  26. Meissner HI et al (2012) Breast and colorectal cancer screening: U.S. primary care physicians’ reports of barriers. Am J Prev Med 43(6):584–589

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Spector D, DeRoo LA, Sandler DP (2011) Lifestyle behaviors in Black and White women with a family history of breast cancer. Prev Med 52(5):394–397

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Wickrama KAS et al (1999) The intergenerational transmission of health-risk behaviors: adolescent lifestyles and gender moderating effects. J Health Social Behav 40(3):258–272

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Hartman SJ, Dunsiger SI, Jacobsen PB (2011) The relationship of psychosocial factors to mammograms, physical activity, and fruit and vegetable consumption among sisters of breast cancer patients. Int J Womens Health 3:257–263

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Viswanath K, Ramanadhan S, Kontos EZ (2007) Mass media, in Macrosocial determinants of population health. In: Galea S (ed) Springer, New York, pp 275–294

  31. Courtney RJ et al (2013) A population-based cross-sectional study of colorectal cancer screening practices of first-degree relatives of colorectal cancer patients. BMC Cancer C7-13 13(1):1–11

    Google Scholar 

  32. Rosenstock IM (1974) Historical origins of the health belief model. Health Educ Behav 2(4):328–335

    Google Scholar 

  33. Wardle J et al (2000) Psychosocial influences on older adults’ interest in participating in bowel cancer screening. Prev Med 31(4):323–334

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  34. Carpenter CJ (2010) A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of health belief model variables in predicting behavior. Health Commun 25(8):661–669

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  35. Bronfenbrenner UR (1999) Environments in developmental perspective: theoretical and operational models, in measuring environment across the life span: emerging methods and concepts. In: Friedman SL, Wachs TD (eds) American Psychological Association Press, Washington pp 3–28

  36. Gorin S et al (2006) Decision making in cancer primary prevention and chemoprevention. Ann Behav Med 32(3):179–187

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors were supported by R25CA087949 (Bostean; PI: Roshan Bastani), NIH CA16042 (Crespi), and P50HL105188 (McCarthy).

Conflict of interest

None

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. UCLA Cancer Prevention and Control Research, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, A2-125 CHS, mc 690015, 650 Charles Young Drive, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-6900, USA

    Georgiana Bostean

  2. Department of Biostatistics, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Catherine M. Crespi

  3. Department of Health Services, Fielding School of Public Health and Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    William J. McCarthy

Authors
  1. Georgiana Bostean
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Catherine M. Crespi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. William J. McCarthy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Georgiana Bostean.

Electronic supplementary material

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary material 1 (DOCX 16 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bostean, G., Crespi, C.M. & McCarthy, W.J. Associations among family history of cancer, cancer screening and lifestyle behaviors: a population-based study. Cancer Causes Control 24, 1491–1503 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0226-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-013-0226-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation