Increasing patient/physician communications about colorectal cancer screening in rural primary care practices

Rural populations as well as less educated people in the United States are less likely to receive colorectal cancer (CRC) screening than people living in urban areas and more educated people.

We tested a computer tablet, Patient/Provider Communication Assistant (PPCA), which collected data, educated patients, and printed personalized notes to patients and providers encouraging conversation about CRC screening. Mixed model analyses using a prepost quasi-experimental design compared patient results during the comparison and intervention periods in 5 rural primary care practices on provider discussion about CRC screening, provider recommendation, and patient intention to be screened. Models including age, education, and literacy measures as covariates were examined.

Providers talked with patients about CRC screening in general, and colonoscopy specifically more frequently after the PPCA than with the comparison group (P values = 0.04 and 0.01, respectively). Providers recommended CRC screening more often to patients in the intervention group than to the comparison group (P = 0.02). Patients planned to be screened, specifically with colonoscopy, more frequently after the intervention than in the comparison group (P = 0.003). There were no interactions between group and any of the covariates. Ninety-five percent of the patients, regardless of age or education, found the PPCA easy to use.

Results indicated increased provider discussion and recommendation, and patients' intentions to obtain CRC screening, and in particular colonoscopy, for patients exposed to the intervention, regardless of the patients' age or literacy levels. The PPCA is a promising intervention method that is acceptable to rural patients.