A colorectal cancer education intervention for Latinos to reduce health disparities

Latino colorectal cancer screening rates are significantly below the Healthy People 2010 benchmark. CDC reports that only 24.4% of Latinos over age 50 had received a FIT/FOBT within the past two years and 46.6% had ever had a sigmoidoscopy; the screening rates for low-income Latinos were substantially lower. This screening disparity places Latinos at high risk for late-stage cancer diagnoses and lower chances of survival. Regular colorectal cancer screening is the key to improving Latino colorectal cancer survival, yet screening promotion interventions must effectively overcome significant and persistent barriers.

This cancer education intervention was designed to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate colorectal cancer information to low-income, low literacy Latinos through interactive, touchscreen kiosks to overcome knowledge, attitudinal, linguistic and cultural barriers. The intervention content was informed by formative research that identified barriers as well as pathways to screening among low-income Latinos adherent to current colorectal cancer screening recommendations. A randomized control study was conducted with 750 low-income Latino men and women to examine the effectiveness of the intervention to improve knowledge about colorectal cancer, improve attitudes towards screening, increase self-efficacy and promote adoption of screening and risk reduction behavior. A pretest was administered to study participants before subsequently randomizing them to either intervention or control groups. A posttest was administered six months past baseline and statistical analyses of those data examined the efficacy of the intervention and the magnitude of the intervention effect. This presentation describes the intervention outcomes and their implications to improving Latino colorectal cancer screening rates.