Association of Stroke and Myocardial Infarction Symptom Knowledge with Cancer Screening Participation Among Patients with Hypertension and Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study in Korea.

Background/

Objectives

Patients with hypertension or diabetes often share common risk factors for both cardiovascular diseases and cancer. Although health knowledge is associated with preventive health behaviors, the association between knowledge of stroke and myocardial infarction (MI) symptoms and cancer screening participation remains poorly understood.

Methods

This cross-sectional study analyzed data from the 2023 Community Health Survey, including 45,949 adults with hypertension and 20,357 with diabetes aged ≥40 years. Multivariate logistic regression was used to examine the association between knowledge of stroke and MI symptoms and cancer screening participation. Subgroup analyses were conducted according to age and sex.

Results

Among patients with hypertension, knowledge of stroke and MI symptoms was significantly associated with higher odds of undergoing cancer screening. Similar associations were observed among patients with diabetes for stroke and MI symptom knowledge. Subgroup analysis revealed that the association for stroke knowledge was significantly more pronounced among adults aged 40-59 years with hypertension, while remaining age and sex subgroup variations were exploratory.

Conclusions

Knowledge of stroke and MI symptoms was associated with participation in cancer screening among adults with hypertension and diabetes. These findings suggest that knowledge of cardiovascular symptoms may reflect overall engagement in preventive health behaviors, including cancer screening.