The influence of fitness technology use on cancer screening behaviors among American women: Mediation by social media communication and cancer worry (2017-2020).

OBJECTIVE

This study investigates how fitness technology (FT) influences cancer screening behaviors among American women, focusing on the role of social media communication and cancer worry as mediators.

METHODS

We used data from 9245 women across four cycles (2017-2020) of the Health Information National Trends Survey. Descriptive analyses, one-way ANOVA, and sequential mediation analysis were conducted to assess the relationship between FT use and cancer screening behaviors.

RESULTS

The results indicate that between 2018 and 2020, social media communication and cancer worry sequentially mediated the relationship between FT use and cancer screening behaviors (= 0.001/0.001/0.001, 95% confidence interval (CI) [0.0002, 0.002]/[0.0002, 0.002]/[0.0001, 0.001]). Additionally, there was an upward trend in FT use (from 0.74 in 2017 to 0.93 in 2020), social media communication (from 1.17 in 2017 to 1.39 in 2020), and cancer worry (from 2.60 in 2017 to 2.84 in 2020). However, cancer screening behaviors declined over the same period (from 4.59 in 2017 to 4.35 in 2020).

CONCLUSION

The study highlights the role of FT in influencing cancer screening behaviors through its impact on social media communication and cancer worry. Despite an increase in FT use, cancer screening behaviors showed a decline, suggesting the need for targeted interventions to bridge this gap and enhance screening behaviors.