Krebswissenschaft und -therapie

Cancer and its Associated Factors in India: A Study Based on the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16

Abstract

Cheryl Anandas, Shobhit Srivastava* and Himani Sharma

According to the NICPR in the year 2010, the average estimated prevalence of cancer was 25 lakhs and incidence was about 07 lakhs in India, there were 5.56 lakh deaths due to cancer. The study is based on data from NFHS (2015-16). Univariate and Bivariate analysis and Poisson regression models were used to establish an association between all independent predictors and outcome variable. Among both women and men, asthma and diabetes emerged as the main determinants for cancer prevalence. Women who smoke tobacco are 1.76 times significantly more likely to get cancer whereas in case of men who smoke are 2.65 times significantly more likely to get cancer. Among both women and men, non-vegetarian diet emerged to be important determinants for cancer prevalence i.e. (IRR=1.58, P<0.05) for women and (IRR=3.17, P<0.05) for men. Among women who are exposed to arsenic through groundwater are 1.81 times significantly more likely to get cancer. From the study, it has been found that asthma and diabetes among biological factors; tobacco and alcohol consumption, consumption of non-vegetarian food and arsenic exposure (only among women) among behavioral factors are the main determinants of cancer prevalence among both men and women in India.