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

Authors

Christelle El Khoury, University of MichiganFollow
Elizabeth Haro, University of MichiganFollow
Martha Alves, University of MichiganFollow
Marie Claire O'Dwyer, University of MichiganFollow
Kate Meixner, University of MichiganFollow
Laura Crespo Albiac, University of MichiganFollow
J Nicoll Capizzano, University of MichiganFollow
Manasi Ramakrishnan, University of MichiganFollow
Cullen Salada, University of MichiganFollow
Sherri Sheinfeld Gorin, University of MichiganFollow
Masahito Jimbo, University of MichiganFollow
Ananda Sen, University of MichiganFollow
Diane M. Harper, University of MichiganFollow

Publication Date

10-18-2021

Keywords

home-based cancer screening, colorectal cancer, cervical cancer, human papillomavirus, HPV screening

Abstract

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.

Recommended Citation

El Khoury C, Haro E, Alves M, O'Dwyer MC, Meixner K, Albiac LC, Capizzano JN, Ramakrishnan M, Salada C, Sheinfeld Gorin S, Jimbo M, Sen A, Harper DM. Patient-centered home cancer screening attitudes during COVID-19 pandemic. J Patient Cent Res Rev. 2021;8:340-6. doi: 10.17294/2330-0698.1835