Satisfaction in Population-Based Cancer Screening in a Chinese Rural High-Risk Population: The Yangzhong Early Diagnosis and Treatment of Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer

Abstract

Background Screening for upper gastrointestinal cancer (UGC) effectively reduces morbidity and mortality in gastric and oesophageal cancers. It is considered one of the effective measures for cancer control in China, but studies on its functional quality are lacking. Our study assessed the quality of screening service funded by Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Early diagnosis and treatment (UGCEDAT) and its correlation in Yangzhong People’s hospital, China. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among 516 screening users at a screening centre in Yanghzong People’s hospital from April to July 2021. The service quality questionnaire (SERVQUAL) base on the service quality gap (SQG) model was adopted. We calculated the mean scores of perceptions and expectations and their gap. To determine the association between overall SQG and related features of participants, we used a multivariate logistic regression. Results The average scores of screening service users’ perceptions and expectations were 4.05 and 4.55, respectively. The SQG of five dimensions (tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, assurance and empathy) were negative, and the overall SQG was − 0.51. The responsiveness dimension had the largest gap, and tangibles had the smallest gap. Occupation status (AOR:0.575; CI:0.371–0.890), health self-assessment (AOR:4.965; CI:1.352–18.232), endoscopy experience (AOR:0.551; CI:0.377–0.806), distance from screening hospital (AOR:1.847; CI:1.249–2.733) and frequency of visit (AOR:1.646; CI:1.100-2.462) were associated with the overall SQG. Conclusions We observed a negative gap between perceptions and expectations of the function quality of screening service, implying a high dissatisfaction across different dimensions. Service providers should take adequate measures to bridge the dimension with the largest quality gap. Meanwhile, attention should be paid to identifying the influencing factors of the overall gap and the characteristics of dimensional expectations and perceived scores to improve the effectiveness of the intervention.

Reducing the global cancer burden with gastrointestinal screening: China’s 30 years practice

“…Nevertheless, the two-stage ESCC screening strategy effectively identified more EC patients while saving resources. As the number of individuals undergoing opportunistic screening increases 27 , this strategy can also be applied to follow-up monitoring and management of those who undergo baseline EC screening. Despite the rapid development of liquid biopsy and multi-omics technologies, there are currently no recommended biomarkers for EC screening 28 .…”