[Colorectal cancer. Knowledge of the public and acceptability of early detection in non-hospital medical practice]. / Cancer colo-rectal. Connaissances du public et acceptabilité du dépistage précoce en pratique médicale non hospitalière.

Six general practitioners attached to a day-care center investigated the extent of their patient's knowledge concerning colorectal cancer and the degree of cooperation to be expected in a screening program. An eight-week information campaign was organized in the neighborhood from which 60 p. cent of their patients were drawn, along with free access to a guaiac test for people aged forty and over. Surveys conducted before the campaign and six months after, revealed how well- or ill-informed the local people were. Immediately after the campaign a screening program combining rectosigmoidoscopy with guaiac test was proposed to patients aged forty and over. Their level of cooperation was studied over a period of three years. Before the campaign 4.5 p. cent of those interviewed were afraid of contracting colorectal cancer, while 14.5 p. cent considered it to be frequent. After the campaign, 13.5 p. cent of people interviewed as opposed to 4.4 p. cent before (p less than 0.001) knew polyps to be precancerous lesions; 22.6 p. cent, as opposed to 2.4 p. cent before (p less than 0.001) mentioned the search for occult blood in the feces as a screening method. Their knowledge of endoscopy remained unchanged (mentioned by 15.5 p. cent of the people interviewed). During the campaign, 8.6 p. cent of people in the neighborhood of forty and upwards carried out a test. Seventy-five (2 p. cent) of the 3,860 people aged forty and over who consulted a general practitioner at least once during the three-year period following the campaign underwent the full screening program.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)