Colorectal and Breast Cancer Screening Status for People in Ontario Provincial Correctional Facilities

• Published in: American journal of preventive medicine 2019-04, Vol.56 (4), p.487-493
• Main Authors: McConnon, Andres, Fung, Kinwah, Lofters, Aisha, Hwang, Stephen W., Kouyoumdjian, Fiona G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Administrative Claims, Healthcare - statistics & numerical data; Aged; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis; Breast Neoplasms - prevention & control; Cancer; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Colorectal Neoplasms - prevention & control; Community services; Correctional institutions; Female; Health education; Health promotion; Health Promotion - organization & administration; Health Promotion - statistics & numerical data; Health services; Health Services Accessibility - organization & administration; Health Services Accessibility - statistics & numerical data; Humans; Imprisonment; Male; Mass Screening - organization & administration; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Medical screening; Middle Aged; Ontario; Population; Primary care; Primary Health Care; Prisons - organization & administration; Prisons - statistics & numerical data; Quality of care; Retrospective Studies; Social Welfare; Tests
• ISSN: 0749-3797; 1873-2607
• DOI: 10.1016/j.amepre.2018.11.011

Primary care represents an opportunity to improve health for people who experience imprisonment, and screening for colorectal and breast cancer indicate primary care quality. The study objectives were to examine the proportion of people released from provincial correctional facilities who were overdue for colorectal or breast cancer screening on admission to the correctional facility and who were still overdue after 3 years, and to compare findings with data for the general population. Administrative data were used to identify people eligible for colorectal and breast cancer screening who were released from provincial correctional facilities in 2010 (N=3,803 and N=249, respectively) and in the general population (N=2,757,584 and N=1,099,942, respectively) in Ontario, Canada. Chi-square tests and log binomial regression models were used to compare the proportion of individuals overdue for screening on admission or on July 1, 2010 for the general population, and still overdue after 3 years. Analyses were conducted in 2017 and 2018. Compared with the general population, people in the corrections group were 1.53 times (95% CI=1.50, 1.55) more likely to be overdue for colorectal cancer screening: 77.1% (95% CI=74.3, 79.9) vs 50.5% (95% CI=50.5, 50.6), and 2.25 times (95% CI=2.06, 2.46) more likely to be overdue for breast cancer screening: 65.9% (95% CI=56.2, 76.8) vs 29.3% (95% CI=29.2, 29.4, both p