Colorectal cancer screening behavior and willingness： An outpatient survey in China

AIM： To identity the factors influencing colorectal cancer （CRC） screening behavior and willingness among Chinese outpatients. METHODS： An outpatient-based face-to-face survey was conducted from August 18 to September 7, 2010 in Changhai Hospital. A total of 1200 consecutive patients aged ≥ 18 years were recruited for interview. The patient＇s knowledge about CRC and screening was pre-measured as a predictor variable, and other pre- dictors included age, gender, educational level, month- ly household income and health insurance status. The relationship between these predictors and screening behavior, screening willingness and screening approach were examined using Pearson＇s 2 test and logistic regression analyses. RESULTS： Of these outpatients, 22.5% had undergone CRC screening prior to this study. Patients who had participated in the screening were more likely to have good knowledge about CRC and screening （OR： 5.299, 95% CI： 3.415-8.223）, have health insurance （OR： 1.996, 95% CI： 1.426-2.794） and older in age. Higher income, however, was found to be a barrier to the screening （OR： 0.633, 95% CI： 0.467-0.858）. An analysis of screening willingness showed that 37.5% of the patients would voluntarily participated in a screen at the recommended age, but 41.3% would do so under doctor＇s advice. Screening willingness was positively correlated with the patient＇s knowledge sta- tus. Patients with higher knowledge levels would like to participate in the screening （OR： 4.352, 95% CI： 3.008-6.298）, and they would select colonoscopy as a screening approach （OR： 3.513, 95% CI： 2.290-5.389）. However, higher income level was, again, a bar- rier to colonoscopic screening （OR： 0.667, 95% CI： 0.505-0.908）. CONCLUSION： Patient＇s level of knowledge and in-ome should be taken into consideration when conducting a feasible CRC screening.