Rural-urban disparities in colorectal cancer screening: An insight from a statewide database.

Abstract

69 Background: The Healthy People 2020 initiative aims to increase colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. The common CRC screening options are FIT, FOBT, sigmoidoscopy, and colonoscopy. Colonoscopy allows visualization of the entire colon and offers therapeutic benefit whereas stool tests are less invasive, cost-effective and are easily available. Inequities exist in CRC screening among rural residents which may be contributed to a lower level of education, income, health insurance and access to health care. The purpose of the study is to identify the impact of geographic region on the preference of CRC screening modality among Louisiana adults. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study among age-eligible Louisiana adults who had CRC screening either with colonoscopy or stool-based tests using the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System database (n = 1372). We examined demographic characteristics among participants who had CRC screening with colonoscopy versus who had a stool-based test. Multivariable logistic regression analysis evaluated the association of geographic region and the preference of CRC screening. Results: Participants age 65-75 years old were 36% less likely to have a colonoscopy as compared to age 50-64 years (p = 0.0008). African Americans and Hispanic Americans were 34% (p < 0.006) and 55% (p = 0.057) less likely to have a colonoscopy as compared to Caucasian Americans, respectively. Medicaid and Medicare participants were 82% (p < 0.0001) and 52% (p < 0.0001) less likely to have a colonoscopy compared to participants with private insurance, respectively. After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, education, income, and insurance the odds of screening colonoscopy was 29% lower for rural residents compared to urban residents of Louisiana (OR 0.71 95% CI 0.53 - 0.94). Conclusions: Individuals residing in rural parishes of Louisiana were more likely to have a stool-based test for CRC screening. Health care providers while considering the reliability and feasibility of CRC screening modality should also incorporate patient’s preferences while offering the screening tests to increase the rate of CRC screening.