Rural-Urban Disparities and Trends in Cancer Screening: An Analysis of Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System Data (2018-2022).

Background: Despite evidence of the benefit of routine cancer screenings, data show a concerning decline in cancer screening uptake for multiple cancer screenings. This analysis aimed to examine rural-urban differences in recent trends for being up to date with screenings for breast, cervical, and colorectal cancers.

Methods: We used 2018, 2020, and 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System data to assess up-to-date cancer screening status among eligible U.S. adults. We calculated weighted prevalence estimates overall and stratified by county-level rural-urban classification. We used survey-weighted multivariable logistic regression models to examine rural-urban disparities in cancer screening up-to-date status by year.

Results: Prevalence of being up to date with each cancer screening was lower in 2022 than it was in 2018. The largest decline in screening overall was for cervical cancer that dropped from 81.89% in 2018 to 47.71% in 2022. Rural-urban disparities were observed for breast cancer screening from 2018 to 2022 with the odds of up-to-date screening being 14% to 27% lower for rural populations than urban populations. For colorectal and cervical cancer, the odds of being up to date with screenings were lower for rural populations in 2018 and 2020, but there was no significant difference observed in 2022 (colorectal screening OR = 0.96; 95% CI: 0.90, 1.02) (cervical screening OR = 0.97; 95% CI: 0.93, 1.03).

Discussion: There is a concerning trend of decreasing uptake of cancer screenings, which will challenge future efforts in cancer prevention and control efforts. Efforts are needed to better understand factors contributing to the declining uptake of cancer screenings.