Predictors of anxiety among colonoscopy patients

Background: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Given the benefits of early detection and treatment, the American Cancer Society and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommend periodic screening. Anxiety before colorectal screenings may increase the risk of adverse consequences such as a need for higher sedation dosage and in some cases leads to incomplete procedures. This assessment aims to analyze possible predictors of anxiety for colonoscopy patients in rural Florida. Patients & Methods: Data are reported from the first 1118 participants enrolled from an ongoing study of 4300 colonoscopy patients. Enrolled participants completed a survey prior to the endoscopy procedure the day of. The pre-colonoscopy survey contains items on patient expectations regarding physician interaction, health perception including anxiety level, and procedure expectations. Results: A preliminary regression analysis model was conducted for the dependent variable: anxiety level before procedure (on a 1-10 scale; low anxiety and high anxiety respectively). Constant predictors analyzed included sex, number of previous colonoscopy screenings, physician/provider referring procedure, and race. The value of the correlation coefficient (R) is .211 squared with a statistically significant F-ratio from ANOVA (12.367, p<.001). Finally, the independent variables with significant impact on patient anxiety include race (African Americans) p<.001, 1st colonoscopy p<.001, primary care physician referrals p=.003, and sex (females) p=.008. Conclusion: African American patients, females, 1st time colonoscopy patients and those referred by their primary care physicians have a higher level of anxiety. The results carry implications linked to health disparities.