Patients whose physicians recommend colonoscopy and those who follow through

Abstract

Background: More than half of eligible individuals are not up-to-date with colon cancer screening. Purpose: To assess the characteristics of those who received a colonoscopy screening recommendation and those who followed the physician recommendation. Methods: Patient self-administered questionnaire and medical record review in 16 private family physician practices. Results: From 8372 patients invited to participate, 685 were enrolled and had a medical record review; 219 (32%) had a colonoscopy recommendation and 86 (39%) received a colonoscopy. Independent factors associated with having a recommendation for colonoscopy were significantly younger in age (odds ratios [OR] = 1.6), higher incomes (annual income ≥$40 000 vs