History of family member incarceration during childhood and receipt of cancer screenings during adulthood in the United States.

PURPOSE: To examine the association between family member incarceration (FMI) during childhood and receipt of breast, colorectal, cervical, and lung cancer screenings.

METHODS

Adults with and without FMI during childhood were identified from the 2020 and/or 2022 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System surveys. Using multivariate logistic regression, we examined the associations of FMI and receipt of past year and guideline-concordant cancer screening, adjusting for age, sex, marital status, number of health conditions, state of residence, number of other adverse childhood experiences, and survey year with sequential adjustment for socioeconomic factors (educational attainment, home ownership, and health insurance coverage).

RESULTS

Adults eligible for breast (n = 45954), colorectal (n = 25135), cervical (n = 31789), and lung (n = 3646) cancer screenings were included. Having FMI was associated with lower likelihood of receiving past year and guideline-concordant breast cancer screening [odds ratio: 0.81(0.67-0.99); 0.77(0.61-0.96)] and guideline-concordant lung cancer screening [0.44(0.24-0.80)]. The associations were attenuated with additional adjustment for socioeconomic factors [past year and guideline-concordant breast cancer screening: 0.83(0.68-1.01) and 0.81(0.65-1.02); lung cancer screening: 0.44(0.25-0.81)].

CONCLUSION

Having FMI during childhood was associated with a lower likelihood of receiving breast and lung cancer screenings in adulthood. Programs to improve receipt of cancer screenings among people with FMI are warranted.