Is awareness enough to bring patients to colorectal screening?

Abstract

Background: The aim of the study was to assess the awareness of colorectal cancer (CRC) patients about CRC screening methods and to investigate the relationship between awareness, socio-demographic characteristics and the stage in which patients with CRC are diagnosed. Methods: The observational cross-sectional study included 275 CRC patients admitted between 2014 and 2016 to two surgical clinics from Tîrgu Mures, Romania. Study variables were collected via face-to-face interview and from patients' observation sheets. Results: Only 41.5% of the patients heard about cancer screening and 6.5% about specific CRC screening methods. Mass-media was the major source of informa- tion (85.1%) followed to a much lesser extent (14.9%) by family, friends, and colleagues. Health professionals did not contribute at all to informing patients about screening methods. Awareness about screening methods was statis- tically associated with the patients' residence, age, and educational achievement, but not with the stage of CRC. Conclusion: The level of awareness of CRC screening methods was very low among the CRC patients included in the study but it could not predict the stage in which malignancy was diagnosed, suggesting that awareness.