Colorectal carcinoma screening among Hispanics and non-Hispanic whites in a rural setting.
BACKGROUND
Colorectal carcinoma ranks as the second most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Hispanics are less likely than their non-Hispanic white counterparts to have ever received a fecal occult blood test (FOBT) or sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy. Little is known about the barriers to screening in the Hispanic population.


METHODS
The authors used baseline data from a community randomized trial of cancer prevention to compare screening prevalence and the associations between reported barriers and screening participation between Hispanics (n = 137) and non-Hispanic whites (n = 491) age > or = 50 years.


RESULTS
Hispanics were less likely than non-Hispanic whites to have ever received an FOBT (P = 0.003) or sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy (P = 0.001). No significant difference across ethnic groups was observed in the prevalence of recent screening using FOBT (29.8% for Hispanics vs. 34.5% for non-Hispanic whites; P = 0.41), but recent use of sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy was lower for Hispanics (24.1% for Hispanics vs. 33.7% for non-Hispanic whites; P 0.06). Lacking health care coverage or having few years of education were directly associated with failure to ever receive an FOBT or sigmoidoscopy/colonoscopy.


CONCLUSIONS
Interventions to improve adherence to colorectal carcinoma screening recommendations among Hispanics should target initial screening examinations, particularly among those lacking health care coverage or having low levels of education.
Thompson
Beti
B
Cancer Prevention Program, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, Washington 98109, USA. bthompso@fhcrc.org
Coronado
Gloria
G
Neuhouser
Marian
M
Chen
Lu
L
D000368:Aged; D003113:Colonoscopy; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006630:Hispanic or Latino; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009780:Occult Blood; D012307:Risk Factors; D012424:Rural Population; D012812:Sigmoidoscopy; D014861:Washington / Q000453:epidemiology; D044465:White People