Can the inpatient hospital setting be a golden opportunity to improve colon cancer screening rates in the United States?

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in the United States. Despite efforts to increase colorectal cancer screening, the rate of compliance with the recommended screening remains relatively suboptimal according the American Cancer Society (53%). PURPOSE: To assess whether the time of hospitalization is a suitable opportunity for patients to receive counseling and for recruiting patients to undergo screening colonoscopy for colon cancer. METHOD: In 2009, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of hospitalized adults age 50 to 80 years in order to assess their responses on a modified version of the Health Information National Trends Survey. We conducted χ(2) analyses on these data to examine the differences in patients' knowledge of colorectal cancer screening and prior adherence to screening guidelines and to assess whether they would be willing to undergo a screening in the near future if prompted by their physicians. RESULTS: We enrolled a total of 332 participants to complete the study questionnaire. About 94% of the subjects had heard about colon cancer, and 83.4% had heard of any screening tests to detect colorectal cancer. About 66% of subjects reported the colonoscopy to be the most effective screening test for colon cancer. Approximately 55% of the total sample group adhered to recommended screening guidelines for colon cancer using the colonoscopy. CONCLUSIONS: The time of hospitalization is a potential "golden opportunity" to counsel patients and promote colon cancer screening.