Socio-demographic correlates of screening intention for colorectal cancer

Objective: To assess the relationship between socio-demographic factors and screening intention for colorectal cancer (CRC).

Methods: A cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 884 Queenslanders aged 40-80 years was conducted using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing system. The factors measured included socio-demographic characteristics, personal history of CRC, knowledge of others with CRC and perceived symptom status. Chi-squared and Monte Carto estimates of Fisher Exact Tests were performed to determine the associations between socio-demographic factors and screening intention. In multivariate analyses, multinomial logistic regression (MNLR) was utilised to examine potential determinants of screening intention.

Results: 77.5% (95% CI 74.0%-80.7%) of the respondents indicated their intention to participate in CRC screening if it were recommended by their doctor or health authorities. The likelihood ratio chi-squared tests in the MNLR analyses show that age (chi (2)((dL6))=15.0; p=0.02), education (chi (2)((dL6))=19.4; p=0.01), perceived symptom status (chi (2)((dL4))=22,9; p=0.00), sex (X-(dL2)(2)=4.5; p=0.11), income (X-(dL14)(2)=19.6; p=0.14) and personal history of CRC (chi (2)((dL2))=4.3; p=0.12) were potential determinants of screening intention. Other sociodemographic factors, including country of birth, private health insurance status, Socio-economic Index for Areas, and Rural and Remote Areas Classification codes, were not associated with screening intention.

Conclusions and Implications: The results indicate that a variety of socio-demographic factors are associated with screening intention and need to be considered in the future development of a population-based screening program for CRC.