Views of a general population on mass screening for colorectal cancer: the Burgundy Study

The success of a screening program depends on a number of factors, including the validity of the test, its efficacy, its feasibility, and the rate of compliance. Thus, it is important to determine the factors influencing compliance to the screening test in order to obtain a high participation rate.

A mass screening campaign for colorectal cancer using the Hemoccult test was conducted in Burgundy, France. One year later, a questionnaire was mailed to a random sample of the population to assess the views of the general public (870 persons who had not completed the Hemoccult test, 750 persons who had a negative test, and 100 persons who had a positive test). The compliance rate of this survey was 32.2% among persons who had not completed the screening test, 88.2% among persons with a negative result, and 98.0% among persons with a positive result.

The main reason for not participating was not wanting to know more about their health status (34.3%). Of the factors credited with encouraging persons to perform the test, the most important ones were the practitioner's explanations (55.7%) and the leaflet sent by mail (42.5%). The impact of the media campaign was weak. A small portion of the population (4.3%) said that they were very anxious while waiting for the results. Among persons with a positive screening test, only 1.2% regretted having taken it. Among those who took the test, 94.2% said they were ready to do it again; and among those who did not take it, 36.7% would accept it at a second screening.

The data suggest that overall the Hemoccult is well accepted, that the campaign did not upset the population, and that it is worthwhile at the second screening to include those who did not participate in the first screening test.