Colorectal cancer screening participation according to poverty rates in the department of Bouches-du-Rhône (France)

Abstract

Introduction: The rate of participation in organized colorectal cancer screening (DOCCR) remains insufficient in France, with strong disparities between departments. Purpose of research: The aim of this work was to assess the relationship between the DOCCR response rates for the communes of the Bouches-du-Rhône (BdR) department and the boroughs of Marseille and their poverty levels. The DOCCR response rate was assessed for the 2017-2018 campaign. The Pearson coefficient was calculated to assess correlations with the average poverty rate per commune/borough, the density of general practitioners (GPs) and Potential Localized Accessibility (PLA) to GPs. Results: Among the DOCCR guests, 29.7% (±4.7) responded. The rate of respondents differed significantly between the communes/ boroughs of the department (P<0.001). The rate of respondents was inversely correlated with the rate of people living below the poverty line, both for the communes/boroughs of the department, with a high correlation (r=-0.795, P<0.001) and for the Marseille boroughs, with an even higher correlation (r=-0.910, P<0.001). It was inversely correlated with the density of GPs (r = - 0.430, P<0.001). On the other hand, there was a weak positive correlation with Potential Localized Accessibility to GPs (r = 0.193, P<0.001), as well as with the age of guests (r=0.476, P<0.001). Conclusions: The poverty rate in the BdR, which is higher than the national average, may partly explain the low rate of DOCCR respondents; other factors such as the density of GPs and their accessibility may play a role.