title: Factors associated with performance of national cancer screening program in Korea.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cancer is the leading cause of death in Korea. Therefore, a National Cancer Screening Program (NCSP) was launched in 1999. This study planned to evaluate the performance of the NCSP to identifying the influencing factors in relation to characteristic public health centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  To analyze the performance, the database of the NCSP records for 2002 was used. The performance index was measured by the goal achievement rate, which was defined by the real number of screenees against the expected number of screenees. Also, a survey was conducted by a self-administered questionnaire to identify the factors associated with the goal achievement rate. The questionnaire was divided into two sections. In the first section, the individual characteristics of the program coordinator in each public health center were measured, and second section was comprised of questions about the organizational characteristics associated with the NCSP. A total of 121 subjects from 241 public health centers completed the questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 121 public health centers (50.2% response rate), the average goal achievement rate was 72.8%. The results of the regression model showed that public health centers located in rural area (parameter estimates=38.2) and had great support from a head of center or province (parameter estimates=0.20) and tended to have higher goal achievement rates. However, the characteristics of the program coordinator, especially their knowledge of and attitude toward cancer screening, were not significantly related to the goal achievement rates.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It appears that the most important associated factors to the goal achievement rate in the NSCP were the location of the public health center and the support for the NCSP from the head of the center or province.
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Korea. ecpark@ncc.re.kr.
authors.forename: Kui Son
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Korea. ecpark@ncc.re.kr.
authors.forename: Jeong Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Korea. ecpark@ncc.re.kr.
authors.forename: Su Yeon
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Kye
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Korea. ecpark@ncc.re.kr.
authors.forename: Sun Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Korea. ecpark@ncc.re.kr.
authors.forename: Eun Cheol
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Korea. ecpark@ncc.re.kr.
authors.forename: Hai Rim
authors.initials: HR
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.affiliation: Research Institute, National Cancer Center, Korea. ecpark@ncc.re.kr.
authors.forename: Chang Min
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Kim
keywords: Cancer; Performance; Screening