Having a Routine Source of Healthcare and Its Impact on Colorectal Cancer Screening Recommendation Compliance

Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates remain low in the US. Previous research has indicated that primary care providers are trusted sources for healthcare recommendations, including cancer screening.

CRC module questions within the 2022 BRFSS were reviewed and multivariable logistic regression was used to explore the relationship between healthcare engagement and likelihood of CRC screening.

Results showed that those with the highest level of healthcare seeking behavior were almost 10 times as likely to receive appropriate CRC screening compared to the lowest engagement group. In a multivariable logistic regression, this relationship remained with higher healthcare engagement having an odds ratio of 5.951 compared to low engagement.

This study indicates seeing a regular healthcare provider in the past year is associated with increased CRC screening. These results confirmed he role that marriage/partnership plays in cancer screening in the US which should be an intervention area considered. This study re-emphasized that there remain racial/ethnic disparities in CRC screening with almost all groups receiving less CRC screening compared to White, non-Hispanic respondents.

This research re-emphasizes the critical role that primary care providers play in the landscape of patient care and specifically identifies these settings as key for intervening to increase uptake of CRC screening recommendations.