Abstract | March 24, 2024
Trust Your Gut: The role of a risk score in improving colon cancer screening
Learning Objectives
- Identify barriers to colon cancer screening, utilize the NIH Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool, examine for change in hesitancy after completion of the risk assessment tool, and discuss the different screening options available for colon cancer.
Introduction: Colon cancer is among the most common cancers diagnosed in the United States. The 2021-2022 Physicians at Sugar Creek (PSC) Purple Pod Colon Cancer Screening rate was 63.08%. Some of the factors that affect a patient’s likelihood of obtaining colon cancer screening include the fear of finding cancer, the belief that cancer will be fatal, lack of proper understanding of the disease and the importance of screening, lack of health promotion efforts by their PCP, poor adherence to preventive measures, and high cost of the procedure. The objective of this research project is to study if a patient’s hesitancy towards colon cancer screening changes after receiving their risk score via the NIH Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool.
Methods: Patients who were 45 years and older and due for colon cancer screening were asked if they would like to obtain screening. If they said no or were undecided, they were given a form with a QR code that led to the NIH Assessment Tool. After filling the assessment out and receiving a risk score, they were asked if this changed their mind about undergoing colon cancer screening.
Results: 18 patients qualified for the study. 10 patients chose to obtain screening after receiving their risk score. 8 patients did not change their minds. The results were statistically significant (p-score <0.0001). The 2022-2023 PSC Purple Pod Colon Cancer Screening rate improved to 68.7%.
Conclusion: The NIH Colorectal Cancer Risk Assessment Tool has the potential to change the minds of patients who are hesitant towards colon cancer screening. One confounding factor was the low sample size. One limiting factor of the risk assessment tool is the limited data for blacks/African Americans, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders, and Hispanics/Latinos which may make their results less accurate. Future directions include incorporating this study into all of the pods at PSC to increase sampling, finding other tools to stratify risk in the aforementioned populations, and studying the percentage of patients who followed through with the screening.
References and Resources
- Institute of Medicine (US) and National Research Council (US) National Cancer Policy Board; Curry SJ, Byers T, Hewitt M, editors. Fulfilling the Potential of Cancer Prevention and Early Detection. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2003. 6, Improving Participation in Cancer Screening Programs. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK223927/
