Having a personal health care provider and receipt of colorectal cancer testing

Abstract

PURPOSE We wanted to assess the relationship between having a personal health care provider and receiving colorectal cancer testing. METHODS Self-reported data were obtained from the United States 2004 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Men and women aged 50 years and older were included, and associations of having a personal health care provider, age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, and health insurance status with colorectal cancer testing were examined. Multiple logistic regression was performed on a final sample of 120,221 individuals. RESULTS Having at least 1 personal health care provider significantly predicted up-to-date colorectal cancer testing in both the univariate (odds ratio [OR] = 3.96; 95% confidence interval [CI] 3.56-4.41) and multiple regression models (OR = 2.91; 95% CI 2.58-3.28). Age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, income, and health insurance were also significantly associated with up-to-date colorectal cancer testing. CONCLUSIONS Having a personal health care provider was associated with up-to-date colorectal cancer testing. Efforts to increase and support the primary care workforce are needed to improve up-to-date colorectal cancer screening rates.