title: Health Screening Behaviour among Singaporeans.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study assessed the health screening behaviour of Singaporeans and evaluated factors associated with low uptake of screening tests.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data from the 2010 National Health Survey, which was conducted on Singapore citizens and permanent residents, was used in this analysis. Multivariate Cox regression was used to evaluate the relationship between sociodemographics and health screening behaviour for selected chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolaemia) and cancers (cervical, breast and colorectal). National recommendations for age at which screening should be initiated and appropriate screening interval were used to define appropriate screening behaviour.
  
  
  RESULTS
  More respondents have had their last chronic disease screening done within the recommended time period compared to cancer screening. A total of 77.8%, 63.4% and 54.9% of the respondents had their last hypertension, diabetes and hypercholesterolaemia done within the recommended time period respectively, while less than 50% of the respondents had their cervical (45.8%), breast (32.9%) and colorectal (20.2%) cancer screenings done within the recommended time period. Respondents with higher household income or more years of education were more likely to have undergone screening within the recommended time period. Indians, who are at higher risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypercholesterolaemia, were also more likely to have been screened. A total of 69.9% and 79.5% of the respondents with previously undiagnosed diabetes and hypertension had reported to have done diabetes and hypertension screenings respectively, within the recommended time period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Sociodemographic factors that could be associated with a lower uptake of screening tests include: 1) low household income, 2) low education level, and 3) Malay ethnicity. Health promotion programmes and outreach to these groups can be enhanced to further improve screening uptake.
authors.affiliation: Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
authors.forename: Hui Zhen
authors.initials: HZ
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: Wei Yen
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Stefan Sl
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Lily Av
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: Derrick Mk
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Heng
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000175:diagnosis*; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D006937:Hypercholesterolemia / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006973:Hypertension / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D009780:Occult Blood; D065006:Papanicolaou Test / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012846:Singapore; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis; D014626:Vaginal Smears / Q000706:statistics & numerical data