Psychological barriers and facilitators of colorectal cancer screening: a French qualitative study
The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the psychological barriers to and facilita tors of undergoing the Hemoccult-II® colorectal cancer screening test in France. Sixty-nine French people aged 50 to 74 years were divided into seven qualitative focus groups. Three issues were discussed with participants: knowl edge and beliefs about colorectal cancer screen ing; facilitators of colorectal cancer screening by Hemoccult-II®; barriers to colorectal cancer screening by Hemoccult-II®. All the discussions were led by two psychologists and were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed using quali tative data analysis software. Correspondence factor analyses identified three dimensions for each topic. The main psychological facilitators of colorectal cancer screening were: information about colorectal cancer screening, perceived sim plicity of using Hemoccult-II®, and perception of risk. Uncertainty about the reliability of Hemoccult-II®, health anxiety, and embarrass ment emerged as the main barriers to colorectal cancer screening. Cross-sectional analyses iden tified the differences between the views expressed by women and men. Women appeared more embarrassed about Hemoccult-II® and men seemed to be more worried about colorectal cancer. This preliminary study suggests that psy chological factors play an important role in col orectal cancer screening by Hemoccult-II®. This finding may help health organizations to con ceive better awareness campaigns to promote colorectal cancer screening in order to reduce the related mortality rate by taking into account psychological determinants.
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