The Dutch public are positive about the colorectal cancer-screening programme, but is this a well-informed opinion?

Linda N Douma,Danielle R M Timmermans,Ellen Uiters

doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3870-7

Abstract

BackgroundPopulation-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is widely recommended, and members of the eligible screening population seem to be positive about it. However, it is not well known how people outside the eligible screening population view CRC screening, and whether they are supportive of the government providing this. Public opinion may affect people’s personal views and their screening decision.The aim of our study was to examine the opinion of the Dutch general public regarding the national CRC screening programme.MethodAn online survey was carried out in a Dutch population sample of adults aged 18 and older, assessing level of support, personal attitude, collective attitude, perceived social norm, awareness, and knowledge regarding the CRC screening programme.ResultsThe response rate was 56% (n = 1679/3000). Generally, the Dutch public are positive about and supportive of the CRC screening programme. We found the biggest proportion of support (86%) when people were asked directly. A smaller proportion (48%) was supportive when people had to choose between other options concerning how the government could possibly deal with CRC. People report knowing more about the benefits of CRC screening than about its possible harms and risks. Many people found it difficult to answer the knowledge questions that asked about numerical information concerning CRC screening correctly.ConclusionPeople were less supportive of the CRC screening programme when having to choose between other options concerning dealing with CRC, and their support may not be based on a full comprehension of what CRC screening entails. Further research is needed to establish what knowledge people need in order to form a well-founded opinion.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-016-3870-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

Population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is widely recommended, and members of the eligible screening population seem to be positive about it
Many people found it difficult to answer the knowledge questions that asked about numerical information concerning CRC screening correctly
People were less supportive of the CRC screening programme when having to choose between other options concerning dealing with CRC, and their support may not be based on a full comprehension of what CRC screening entails

Summary

Introduction

Population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is widely recommended, and members of the eligible screening population seem to be positive about it. It seems that most people believe that preventive screening for colorectal cancer is a good idea [24, 25, 28,29,30], important to do [27, 28] and saves lives [29, 30] The majority of these studies, though, only studied the eligible screening population within the direct context of individual participation. They did not examine how the general public (which includes people inside as well as outside the eligible screening population) viewed CRC screening, with the exception of McCaffery et al [26] and Bruel et al [31]. There seems to be a generally positive view towards CRC screening, it is not well known how people outside the eligible screening population, and irrespective of their own participation, view CRC screening

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