Is Nonadherence to Cancer Screening a Marker for Higher 15-Year Noncancer Mortality?

Nonadherence to cancer screening guidelines is associated with general nonadherence to chronic disease management and preventive strategies. Investigators sought to quantify the effect of general nonadherence to cancer screening on noncancer-related mortality by using data from the U.S. PLCO cancer screening trial. Almost 65,000 women and men (mean age, 62) were offered screenings for prostate, lung, colorectal, and ovarian cancer. Participants were classified as adherent (85%), partially adherent (4%), or nonadherent (11%) to cancer screening.

Participants were followed for 15 years, during which 7966 noncancer-related deaths occurred. Mortality per 10,000 person-years was 116 for adherent people, 145 for partially adherent people, and 168 …