Patient-Centered Home Cancer Screening Attitudes During COVID-19 Pandemic

• Published in: Journal of patient-centered research and reviews 2021-10, Vol.8 (4), p.340-346
• Main Authors: El Khoury, Christelle, Haro, Elizabeth, Alves, Martha, O'Dwyer, Marie Claire, Meixner, Kate, Albiac, Laura Crespo, Capizzano, J Nicoll, Ramakrishnan, Manasi, Salada, Cullen, Sheinfeld Gorin, Sherri, Jimbo, Masahito, Sen, Ananda, Harper, Diane M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: cervical cancer; colorectal cancer; Covid-19; home-based cancer screening; hpv screening; human papillomavirus
• ISSN: 2330-0698; 2330-068X; 2330-0698
• DOI: 10.17294/2330-0698.1835

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted health care delivery of cancer screenings. The primary aim of our work was to evaluate the degree to which populations were accepting of home-based screenings for colorectal cancer (CRC) and cervical cancer (ie, primary human papillomavirus [HPV] testing). Three groups of adults having distinct health burdens that may affect acceptance of home-based cancer screening were identified through outpatient electronic medical records: those having survived a COVID-19 hospitalization; those having been positive for a non-COVID-19 respiratory illness; or those having type 2 diabetes. A total of 132 respondents (58% female) completed an online survey with hypothetical cases about their acceptance of home-based CRC or cervical cancer screening. Among women respondents, urine and vaginal screening for primary HPV testing was acceptable to 64% and 59%, respectively. Among both men and women, at-home CRC screening with fecal immunochemical test or Cologuard ® was acceptable to 60% of the respondents. When adjusting for education, women with a positive attitude toward home-based urine and vaginal screening were 49 times and 23 times more likely, respectively, to have a positive attitude toward CRC screening. These findings indicate that home-based cancer screens for CRC and primary HPV testing are acceptable to men and women and may allow for greater compliance with screening in the future.