Gender Differences in FOBT Use: Evidence from a Large German Survey

Abstract We examined prevalence and correlates of fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) uptake in a sample of men and women aged 50 to 70 years without a personal history of cancer (n = 15 810). The data was collected in 2004 through the Health Care Access Panel (HCAP), a nationally generalizable survey of German households. A pronounced gender difference in FOBT use emerged. Women reported regular use more often, while men reported irregular use with a higher frequency. Nearly every third men (29.6 %), compared to 17.5 % of the women had never made use of FOBT. The influence of socioeconomic factors on FOBT uptake…