Implementing Colon Cancer Screening Guidelines Into the Primary Care Setting

Colon cancer is the second leading cause of all cancers deaths. Despite public awareness, many healthcare providers and patients remain uninformed about colon cancer screening options alternative to colonoscopy. Research supports the lack of providers' education and patient knowledge. At a clinic for veterans in Central Florida, 2 educational presentations were delivered to primary care providers (N = 46) on the clinical pathway for colon cancer screening options. A pilot study with a quantitative pretest-post-test design was used to evaluate differences between screening orders 3 months before and after the presentations. A 10-item survey on the usefulness of the educational information was also administered to providers. Results of a 1-way analysis of variance indicated no significant differences between the two 3-month periods. However, with exclusion of the lowest month, a significance level resulted of .087, 91.3% confidence level. Survey responses indicated a positive impact, with most answers ranging from agree to strongly agree. The study revealed that the educational clinical pathway contributed to providers' increased recommendations of screening options and the educational information was useful. Additional research is recommended on the effectiveness of education and providers' use of screening options for colon cancer for average-risk veterans in healthcare institutions.