Risk and reluctance: understanding impediments to colorectal cancer screening
UMass Chan Affiliations
Meyers Primary Care InstituteDepartment of Medicine, Division of Preventive and Behavioral Medicine
Document Type
Journal ArticlePublication Date
2001-06-08Keywords
AgedColorectal Neoplasms
Female
Focus Groups
*Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
*Occult Blood
Patient Acceptance of Health Care
Physician's Practice Patterns
Risk Factors
Sigmoidoscopy
United States
Health Services Research
Primary Care
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
PURPOSE: Screening to detect and prevent colorectal cancer (CRC) is well below optimal, contributing to needless CRC-related morbidity and mortality. Little detailed information exists explaining why screening technologies are underutilized and why screening adherence rates are low. Prior to the design of an intervention study, we assessed knowledge about CRC among adult women and men with access to health care. We also investigated patterns of perceived risk for CRC, barriers and facilitators to screening, and experience and intentions with regard to both fecal occult blood testing and flexible sigmoidoscopy. METHODS: We analyzed data from semistructured focus group interviews with a small, nonrepresentative sample (n = 39) of community-dwelling adult men and women ages 50 to 64 and 65 plus. RESULTS: CRC-related knowledge is low, and misperceptions are common. Provider practices reinforce low levels of perceived risk. Multiple barriers to screening exist, of which many are remediable. CONCLUSIONS: We are at an early stage in the diffusion of information about CRC. Screening utilization may be improved through development of appropriate public health awareness campaigns and by addressing service factors. Recommendations are provided.Source
Prev Med. 2001 Jun;32(6):502-13. Link to article on publisher's siteDOI
10.1006/pmed.2001.0838Permanent Link to this Item
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14038/36907PubMed ID
11394954Related Resources
Link to Article in PubMedae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1006/pmed.2001.0838