Primary care colorectal cancer screening correlates with breast cancer screening: implications for colorectal cancer screening improvement interventions

• Published in: Clinical and translational gastroenterology 2018-04, Vol.9 (4), p.148-9
• Main Authors: Weiss, Jennifer M, Pandhi, Nancy, Kraft, Sally, Potvien, Aaron, Carayon, Pascale, Smith, Maureen A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aged; Breast cancer; Breast Neoplasms - diagnosis; Cervical cancer; Chronic Disease - therapy; Chronic illnesses; Colorectal cancer; Colorectal Neoplasms - diagnosis; Early Detection of Cancer - statistics & numerical data; Female; Health risk assessment; Humans; Mass Screening - statistics & numerical data; Medical screening; Middle Aged; Practice Patterns, Physicians; Primary care; Primary Health Care; Retrospective Studies; United States; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms - diagnosis
• ISSN: 2155-384X; 2155-384X
• DOI: 10.1038/s41424-018-0014-7

National colorectal cancer (CRC) screening rates have plateaued. To optimize interventions targeting those unscreened, a better understanding is needed of how this preventive service fits in with multiple preventive and chronic care needs managed by primary care providers (PCPs). This study examines whether PCP practices of other preventive and chronic care needs correlate with CRC screening. We performed a retrospective cohort study of 90 PCPs and 33,137 CRC screening-eligible patients. Five PCP quality metrics (breast cancer screening, cervical cancer screening, HgbA1c and LDL testing, and blood pressure control) were measured. A baseline correlation test was performed between these metrics and PCP CRC screening rates. Multivariable logistic regression with clustering at the clinic-level estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for these PCP quality metrics, patient and PCP characteristics, and their relationship to CRC screening. PCP CRC screening rates have a strong correlation with breast cancer screening rates (r = 0.7414, p