Colorectal cancer screening: How to help patients comply
Strongly recommending that a patient be screened and addressing commonly held fears are among the 7 ways you may be able to improve compliance
The education level was higher than that of our urban, family practice clinic population. Thirteen of the 15 attendees had some type of insurance (Medicare, Medicaid, or private insurance). Of the insured, 11 had insurance coverage for CRC screening. Lack of availability of insurance coverage for CRC screening undoubtedly affects purchasing behavior for CRC screening, but we did not specifically separate comments of the insured from the uninsured. We do not have data on response of the subjects by ethnic group or sex.
Although the sample size was small, comments about the inadequacy of doctor/patient communications that emerged in each of the focus groups were remarkably similar.
Acknowledgements
This study is part of ongoing research at the university of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, and the uAMS, Arkansas Cancer Research Center, Division of Cancer Control. We thank the Division of Cancer Control for its technical support. We are also grateful for the assistance of Diane Metzler, university of Arkansas at little Rock, Institute for Economic Advancement, Division of Survey Research, who led the focus groups.
Correspondence
Geoffrey Goldsmith, MD, MPH, uAMS Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, 4301 W. Markham St., #530, little Rock, AR 72205-7199; ggoldsmith@uams.edu
