Colorectal Cancer Early Screening Program of Barcelona, Spain: Indicators of the first round of a program with participation of community pharmacies

Abstract

Background and objectiveThe Colorectal Cancer Screening Program of Barcelona was implemented in December 2009 and involves pharmacies for the distribution and collection of screening tests. The aim of this article is to describe the main indicators of the first round of the Program (2010–2011), based on the ones suggested by the European Union. Material and methodsThe target population of the Colorectal Cancer Screening Program of Barcelona includes men and women aged 50–69 years who live in the catchment areas of Hospital Clínic and Hospital del Mar. Screening consists of biennial immunochemical fecal occult blood testing, with colonoscopy as confirmatory procedure. ResultsTarget population comprised 197,795 persons. Participation rate was 43.6%, was higher among women and among those aged 60 and older. 2.1% of the eligible population stated to have been already screened for colorectal cancer. Overall positivity rate was 6.2%, higher among men and with a broad variability among health care areas. The detection rates of low- and high-risk adenoma, and of invasive cancer were 9.1‰, 21.7‰ and 3.1‰, respectively. 48.2% of tumors were stage I. ConclusionsThese results are considered satisfactory and consistent with those obtained in other programs and with European standards. Nevertheless, some areas for improvement have been identified. The high participation rate can be attributed, at least in part, to the type of test and to the involvement of community pharmacies.