[Knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of the Roma population regarding colorectal cancer screening]. / Conocimientos, creencias y actitudes de la población gitana ante el cribado del cáncer colorrectal.

OBJECTIVE: To identify predisposing, inhibitory and facilitating factors that may affect participation in colorectal cancer screening programs in the Roma population. METHOD: Qualitative and exploratory study by focus group technique. Three focus groups of men and three groups of women were carried out, with a total of 16 men and 18 women from the Roma population, aged 50-69 years, from the province of Alicante. A discourse analysis was performed with the PRECEDE model as an analysis framework. RESULTS: Several barriers to participation were identified, such as the aversion of the Roma population to talk about cancer, refusal to anticipate a diagnosis that can cause suffering to the person and their family, poor knowledge of the disease and the preventive programmes, refusal to collect and handle samples, fear and shame about the colonoscopy, acceptance of divine will, difficulties in understanding and reading, and the perception of being discriminated by their ethnicity in the health sector. However, predisposing factors to participate in the screening programme also were identified, for example willingness to receive relevant information through more appropriate pathways, as well as their confidence in professional counselling. CONCLUSION: A willingness to receive the recommendation to participate and understanding information from health professionals have been identified. This will enable us to envisage potential strategies for approaching this population group. This could contribute to improved participation of the Roma population in colorectal cancer screening programmes and to open up new ways to promote preventive behaviours.

Conocimientos, creencias y actitudes de la población gitana ante el cribado del cáncer colorrectal / Knowledge, beliefs and attitudes of the Roma population regarding colorectal cancer screening

Objetivo: Identificar los factores predisponentes, inhibidores y facilitadores que pueden afectar a la participación en los programas de cribado del cáncer colorrectal en la población gitana. Método: Estudio cualitativo exploratorio mediante técnica de grupo focal. Se realizaron tres grupos focales de hombres y tres de mujeres, con un total de 16 hombres y 18 mujeres participantes de población romaní, de 50-69 años de edad, de la provincia de Alicante. Se realizó un análisis del discurso con el modelo PRECEDE como marco de análisis. Resultados: Se identificaron diversas barreras a la participación, como la aversión de la población gitana a hablar de cáncer, el rechazo a anticipar un diagnóstico que puede provocar sufrimiento de la persona y su entorno familiar, escaso conocimiento de la enfermedad y del programa preventivo, rechazo hacia la recogida y manejo de las muestras, miedo y vergüenza ante la posible colonoscopia, aceptación de la voluntad divina, dificultades de comprensión y lectura, y percepción de estar discriminados por su etnia en el ámbito sanitario. Sin embargo, se identificaron factores predisponentes a la participación en el programa de cribado, como la predisposición favorable a recibir información pertinente a través de vías más apropiadas, así como su confianza en el consejo profesional. Conclusión: La predisposición a recibir la recomendación de participar en los programas de cribado colorrectal y una información comprensible de los profesionales sanitarios permiten entrever posibles estrategias de aproximación a este colectivo. Esto podría contribuir a la mejora de la participación de la población gitana en el programa de cribado de cáncer colorrectal y abrir nuevas vías para promover conductas preventivas (AU)

Objective: To identify predisposing, inhibitory and facilitating factors that may affect participation in colorectal cancer screening programs in the Roma population. Method: Qualitative and exploratory study by focus group technique. Three focus groups of men and three groups of women were carried out, with a total of 16 men and 18 women from the Roma population, aged 50-69 years, from the province of Alicante. A discourse analysis was performed with the PRECEDE model as an analysis framework. Results: Several barriers to participation were identified, such as the aversion of the Roma population to talk about cancer, refusal to anticipate a diagnosis that can cause suffering to the person and their family, poor knowledge of the disease and the preventive programmes, refusal to collect and handle samples, fear and shame about the colonoscopy, acceptance of divine will, difficulties in understanding and reading, and the perception of being discriminated by their ethnicity in the health sector. However, predisposing factors to participate in the screening programme also were identified, for example willingness to receive relevant information through more appropriate pathways, as well as their confidence in professional counselling. Conclusion: A willingness to receive the recommendation to participate and understanding information from health professionals have been identified. This will enable us to envisage potential strategies for approaching this population group. This could contribute to improved participation of the Roma population in colorectal cancer screening programmes and to open up new ways to promote preventive behaviours (AU)