Düsseldorf (dpa / lnw) - According to an evaluation by the Barmer health insurance company, men in North Rhine-Westphalia rarely go to the family doctor for cancer screening. In 2021, only 22.6 percent of eligible men in NRW would have taken advantage of the preventive check-up, the health insurance company announced on Friday for World Cancer Day (February 4). In 2010, almost a quarter of men (24.6 percent) went to cancer screening.
All men over the age of 45 with statutory health insurance can take advantage of cancer screening once a year, with a specific anamnesis and a palpation of the genital area and lymph nodes. "The earlier cancer is detected, the higher the chances of recovery," said Heiner Beckmann, state manager of Barmer NRW.
The fact that so few men went to cancer screening is not solely due to the corona pandemic, when many people refrained from visiting the doctor for fear of infection. The downtrend started earlier.
According to data from the State Statistical Office, cancer was the cause of death in almost every fourth death in North Rhine-Westphalia. In men, the third leading cause of cancer-related death in 2021 was malignant neoplasm of the genital organs (12 percent).
For the evaluation of the Barmer, the general practitioner early detection examinations of men aged 45 and over in North Rhine-Westphalia were analyzed. The data was extrapolated based on information from the Federal Statistical Office. Barmer insures around 2.2 million people in North Rhine-Westphalia.
