Association of employment and company size with lung cancer screening participation among Japanese based on the socioeconomic conditions using the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions

Background The proportion of non-regularly employed persons has increased in Japan, but few studies have examined the relationship between employment status and lung cancer screening (LCS) participation. Methods Authors analyzed data from the 2010 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions in Japan. The anonymous responses of 28,951 people aged 40–69 years old were analyzed. Authors defined nine employment status categories: unemployed, regularly employed in a large-, middle-, and small-scale company, non-regularly employed in a large-, middle-, and small-scale company, self-employed, and other. LCS participation in the past year was surveyed through a self-reported questionnaire. Sex-specific prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for LCS participation for all employment status categories, using the regularly employed in a middle-scale company category as the reference, were calculated using multivariable Poisson regression analysis, after adjusting for potentially confounding factors. Results Multivariable-adjusted PRs (95% CI) for LCS participation for the regularly employed in a large-scale company were 1.33 (1.25–1.41) in men and 1.53 (1.38–1.71) in women. Multivariable-adjusted PRs (95% CI) for LCS participation for the non-regularly employed in a middle- and small-scale company compared with the regularly employed in a middle-scale company were 0.81 (0.72–0.92) and 0.62 (0.50–0.76) in men, and 0.89 (0.80–0.99) and 0.80 (0.71–0.91) in women, respectively. Conclusion Regularly employed in a large-scale company had significantly higher LCS participation, and non-regularly employed in a middle- or small-scale company showed significantly lower LCS participation than those who were regularly employed in a middle-scale company.