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What Factors Influence Non-Participation Most in Colorectal Cancer Screening? A Discrete Choice Experiment
Esther W de Bekker-Grob1,2, Bas Donkers3,4, Jorien Veldwijk5,3
1Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1738, 3000 DR, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. debekker-grob@eshpm.eur.nl.
Background And Objective:
Non-participation in colorectal cancer (CRC) screening needs to be decreased to achieve its full potential as a public health strategy. To facilitate successful implementation of CRC screening towards unscreened individuals, this study aimed to quantify the impact of screening and individual characteristics on non-participation in CRC screening.
Methods:
An online discrete choice experiment partly based on qualitative research was used among 406 representatives of the Dutch general population aged 55-75 years. In the discrete choice experiment, respondents were offered a series of choices between CRC screening scenarios that differed on five characteristics: effectiveness of the faecal immunochemical screening test, risk of a false-negative outcome, test frequency, waiting time for faecal immunochemical screening test results and waiting time for a colonoscopy follow-up test. The discrete choice experiment data were analysed in a systematic manner using random-utility-maximisation choice processes with scale and/or preference heterogeneity (based on 15 individual characteristics) and/or random intercepts.
Results:
Screening characteristics proved to influence non-participation in CRC screening (21.7-28.0% non-participation rate), but an individual's characteristics had an even higher impact on CRC screening non-participation (8.4-75.5% non-participation rate); particularly the individual's attitude towards CRC screening followed by whether the individual had participated in a cancer screening programme before, the decision style of the individual and the educational level of the individual. Our findings provided a high degree of confidence in the internal-external validity.
Conclusions:
This study showed that although screening characteristics proved to influence non-participation in CRC screening, a respondent's characteristics had a much higher impact on CRC screening non-participation. Policy makers and physicians can use our study insights to improve and tailor their communication plans regarding (CRC) screening for unscreened individuals.