Patient experience and satisfaction with symptomatic faecal immunochemical testing: an explanatory sequential mixed-methods evaluation

Recent evidence suggests that faecal immunochemical testing (FIT) can rule out colorectal cancer (CRC) in symptomatic adults. To date, there has been little research exploring experiences of FIT for this population. To explore patient experience and satisfaction with FIT in an 'early adopter' site in England. Explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach combining mailed quantitative surveys with semi-structured telephone interviews. Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse quantitative data. Thematic analysis was used to assess qualitative transcripts. The survey had 260 responders, and it found that satisfaction with FIT was high (88.7%). Compared with test satisfaction, the proportion of responders satisfied with their GP consultation and how they received their results was lower (74.4% and 76.2%, respectively). Multivariate analysis showed that increased area-level deprivation and not receiving an explanation of the purpose of the test were associated with lower satisfaction with the GP consultation (both -values