Adults Overdue for CRC Screen Rarely Receive Recommendation for Screening

TUESDAY, Sept. 12, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Only about one-quarter of adults who are overdue for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening receive a recommendation from their clinician, according to a research letter published online Sept. 12 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Jordan Baeker Bispo, Ph.D., M.P.H., from the American Cancer Society in Kennesaw, Georgia, and colleagues estimated the prevalence of receiving a clinician recommendation for CRC screening among underscreened U.S. adults using pooled data from the 2019 and 2021 National Health Interview Survey. A total of 5,022 adults who were eligible and overdue for CRC screening and had undergone a wellness visit in the past year were included in the analysis.

The researchers found that overall, 26.8 percent of these adults reported receiving a clinician recommendation for CRC screening. The prevalence varied from less than 10 to 32 percent for adults without a usual source of care and for those with a family income exceeding 400 percent of the federal poverty level, respectively. The prevalence of reporting a clinician recommendation for CRC screening was lower for non-Hispanic Asian, non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic adults than non-Hispanic Whites (adjusted prevalence ratios, 0.53, 0.76, and 0.82, respectively) and was lower for those with less than a high school education versus those who had completed college and for uninsured adults versus those with private insurance (adjusted prevalence ratios, 0.76 and 0.51, respectively).

"The findings highlight a major communication gap about CRC prevention in the clinical setting," the authors write.

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