Colorectal cancer screening among patients in the rural south. does risk perception defer procedure?

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2009 there were approximately 51,000 CRC mortalities. The most common and effective screening technique for CRC is colonoscopy. Although the most effective, colonoscopy procedure has risk of adverse reaction to anesthesia, bleeding at the site of biopsy, and perforation (Mayo Clinic). We enrolled 1147 colonoscopy patients (73.7% White), (59.6% female), (mean age 52.79 years) as part of a large study. Patients and caregivers completed a paper-based survey on the day of the procedure. Dyads were asked questions regarding anxiety levels, treatment decisions if diagnosed with colorectal cancer, as well as perceived benefit and risk involved with having a colonoscopy. Independent t-tests revealed that on a scale of 1 (not at all) to 10 (extremely), male patients reported less benefit than females (8.46 vs. 8.80; p=.004). African-American patients perceived more benefit regarding the procedure compared to whites (9.01 vs. 8.62; p= .025). Patients who felt pressured to have a colonoscopy believed that there was more risk involved (3.34 vs. 2.97; p= .007). Preliminary results suggest that further research should be conducted to explore risk/benefit perceptions related to colonoscopy. More in-depth research on this topic could uncover why some delay colonoscopy. Interventions can also be created to educate and inform individuals in certain segments of the population who defer CRC screening via colonoscopy based on perceived risks and benefits.