Racial disparities and barriers to colorectal cancer screening in rural areas

Introduction: this study examined barriers to colorectal cancer (crc) screening in people living in rural areas. methods: we identified 2 rural counties with high rates of crc and randomly contacted county residents by telephone using a published listing. results: six hundred thirty-five of the 1839 eligible respondents (34.5%) between the ages of 50 and 79 years living in mcduffie and screven counties,georgia,agreed to complete the survey. the mean age was 62.2 years (sd,±7.5 years); 72.4% were women,79.4% were white,and 19.5% were african american. african-american respondents had lower crc screening rates (50.4%) than whites (63.4%; p = .009). significantly more african americans compared with whites reported barriers to crc screening. based on logistic regression analyses,having a physician recommend crc screening had the strongest association with having a current crc screening,regardless of race. conclusions: important racial differences existed between african americans and whites regarding the barriers to crc screening and factors impacting current screening. however,endorsement of a small set of questionnaire items - not race - had the strongest association with being current with screening. physician recommendation for crc screening had the strongest association with being current with crc screening.