Contrasts in Rural and Urban Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening.

Objectives: To contrast barriers to co­lon cancer (CRC) screening and Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT) completion between rural and urban safety-net pa­tients. Methods: Interviews were admin­istered to 972 patients who were not up-to-date with screening. Results: Rural patients were more likely to believe it was helpful to find CRC early (89.7% vs 66.1%, p < .0001), yet were less likely to have received a screening recommenda­tion (36.4% vs. 45.8%, p = .03) or FOBT information (14.5% vs 32.3%, p < .0001) or to have completed an FOBT (22.0% vs 45.8%, p < .0001). Conclusions: Interven­tions are needed to increase screening recommendation, education and comple­tion, particularly in rural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]