Colorectal cancer screening challenges in southwestern Saudi Arabia

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignancy, but ranks second in cancer-related mortality. CRC screening has been shown to decrease the incidence of CRC. However, screening methods are only effective if they are done. This is an analytical cross-sectional study done via a web-based questionnaire that was distributed in person and online. Convenient sampling methods were used to collect responses from adult males and females willing to participate in this study. The study included 643 participants with female predominance (72.2%). Although 88.5% recognized CRC as a preventable disease and 68.4% knew early detection improves outcomes, only 35.1% were aware of cancer screening tests. The most reported barriers to general screening were absence of symptoms (63.3%) and lack of physician recommendation (57.5%). Emotional and psychological barriers were the most reported barriers for colonoscopy (62.5%), and lack of knowledge about the availability of stool-based tests (50.5%). The study participants demonstrated fair knowledge about risk factors and symptoms of CRC, but there were significant knowledge gaps about the available screening methods. This highlights the need for national awareness campaigns and improved patient-physician communication about CRC screening.