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Background: Although human-animal interactions (HAI) have been associated with health benefits, they have not been extensively studied among cancer patients nor which factors may influence HAI during cancer survivorship. Therefore, this study aims to describe pet ownership in a breast cancer cohort within 5 years post-diagnosis and to identify associated factors., Methods: Four hundred sixty-six patients from the NEON-BC cohort were evaluated. Four groups of pet ownership over the 5 years were defined: 'never had', 'stopped having', 'started having' and 'always had'. Multinomial logistic regression was used to quantify the association between the patient characteristics and the groups defined (reference: 'never had')., Results: 51.7% of patients had pets at diagnosis, which increased to 58.4% at 5 years; dogs and cats were the most common. Women presenting depressive symptoms and poor quality of life were more likely to stop having pets. Older and unpartnered women were less likely to start having pets. Those retired, living outside Porto, having diabetes or having owned animals during adulthood were more likely to start having pets. Women with higher education and unpartnered were less likely to always have pets. Those living in larger households, with other adults or having animals throughout life, were more likely to always have pets. Obese women had lower odds of stopping having dogs/cats. Women submitted to neoadjuvant chemotherapy and longer chemotherapy treatments were more likely to stop having dogs/cats., Conclusions: Pet ownership changed over the 5 years and is influenced by sociodemographic, clinical and treatment characteristics, patient-reported outcomes and past pet ownership, reflecting the importance of HAI during cancer survivorship., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association.)

Background: Cervical cancer screening is effective in reducing mortality, but adherence is generally low. We aimed to investigate the cost-effectiveness of a stepwise intervention to promote adherence to cervical cancer screening in Portugal., Methods: We developed a decision tree model to compare the cost-effectiveness of four competing interventions to increase adherence to cervical cancer screening: (i) a written letter (standard-of-care); (ii) automated short message service text messages (SMS)/phone calls/reminders; (iii) automated SMS/phone calls/reminders + manual phone calls; (iv) automated SMS/phone calls/reminders + manual phone calls + face-to-face interviews. The main outcome measure was cost per quality-adjusted life year (QALY) measured over a 5-year time horizon. Costs were calculated from the societal and provider perspectives., Results: From the societal perspective, the optimal strategy was automated SMS/phone calls/reminders, below a threshold of €8171 per QALY; above this and below €180 878 per QALY, the most cost-effective strategy was automated SMS/phone calls/reminders + manual phone calls and above this value automated SMS/phone calls/reminders + manual phone calls + face-to-face interviews. From the provider perspective, the ranking of the three strategies in terms of cost-effectiveness was the same, for thresholds of €2756 and €175 463 per QALY, respectively., Conclusions: Assuming a willingness-to-pay threshold of one time the national gross domestic product (€22 398/QALY), automated SMS/phone calls/reminders + manual phone calls is a cost-effective strategy to promote adherence to cervical cancer screening, both from the societal and provider perspectives., (© The Author(s) 2019. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.)

Background: Understanding the patterns of cervical cytology use in preventive care may provide useful information for an efficient transition from opportunistic screening to organized programmes. We aimed to identify the determinants of non-use and underuse of cervical cytology in Portuguese women., Methods: As part of the fourth National Health Survey (2005/2006), 2191 women aged between 25 and 64 years were evaluated. The previous use of cervical cytology was classified as never or ever, and, among the latter, those having performed the latest cytology testing >5 years before were considered to underuse cervical cytology. We assessed the determinants of non-use and underuse through age- and education-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs)., Results: Overall, 23.5% of women had never used cervical cytology and 10.7% reported underuse. This prevalence increased with age and decreased with education and income. Compared with the national mean, the lowest risk of non-use and underuse was observed in Norte (non-use: OR = 0.31, 95% CI: 0.23-0.42; underuse: OR = 0.60, 95% CI: 0.40-0.91) and the highest in Alentejo (non-use: OR = 2.33, 95% CI: 1.78-3.06; underuse: OR = 2.37, 95% CI: 1.43-3.93). Women without a private health insurance (OR = 2.65, 95% CI: 1.29-5.47), who had no doctor appointments in the preceding 3 months (OR = 2.06, 95% CI: 1.22-3.48) and those who had never performed a mammography (OR = 17.78, 95% CI: 9.09-34.78) were more likely to have never performed a cervical cytology., Conclusion: This study shows inequalities in the use of cervical cancer screening in Portugal and provides useful information for a better allocation of resources for cancer screening.

Background: Understanding the patterns of mammography use is essential to promote the participation in breast cancer screening., Objectives: To describe the patterns of screening mammography use in Portugal., Methods: As part of the fourth National Health Survey (2005/2006), 3045 women were evaluated in face-to-face interviews. The previous use of mammography for screening was classified as never or ever, and the latter was further grouped according to the time elapsed since the latest mammography. Having undergone the latest mammography >2 years before was considered underuse. We assessed the determinants of never having been screened by mammography and, among those who had been tested, the determinants of mammography underuse, through age- and education-adjusted odds ratios (ORs), with 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs)., Results: Among women aged 45-49 and 50-69 years, 86.3% and 88.0%, respectively, underwent a screening mammography before, and most of them were tested in the previous 2 years. The lowest risk of never having been screened was in Norte (OR = 0.41, 95% CI: 0.21-0.80) and the highest in Açores (OR = 4.04, 95% CI: 2.37-6.92), in comparison with Centro (the region with organized screening for a longer time). Participants with <4 years of formal education were more likely to have never been screened than the more educated (OR = 4.27, 95% CI: 1.67-10.89). Women with private health insurance (OR = 0.16, 95% CI: 0.04-0.65), as well as those who had undergone cervical cytology screening before (OR = 0.50, 95% CI: 0.30-0.85), had a lower risk of underuse., Conclusions: This study provides useful information to improve the allocation of resources to breast cancer screening.