Date of Publication

1-21-2008

Abstract

Background: - Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the third leading cause of cancer death in Vermont. - Colon cancer progression may be prevented by removing precancerous polyps found on colonoscopy screening. -Vermont ranks among the states with the best colon cancer screening rates, but there is room for improvement. In 2006, 55.5% of Vermonters over 50 years of age had undergone a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy within the last 5 years. Vermont’s public health goal is to raise this percentage of screened individuals to 65% by 2010. - Vermont medical institutions have the resources to perform screening colonoscopies on all Vermonters over 50 years of age. - Although primary care physician (PCP) recommendations increase the likelihood of a patient completing a colonoscopy screening, a substantial number of patients referred for screening colonoscopies do not complete their appointments.

Advisor(s)

Debbie Dameron, MSPH, American Cancer Society

James Vecchio, MD, University of Vermont College of Medicine

Agency

American Cancer Society

Subjects

Cancer

Notes

Presented at the American Public Health Association (APHA) 136th Annual Meeting and Expo, San Diego, CA; October 28, 2008 as "Barriers to completing colonoscopy screenings," by Joseph Pare, Melinda Myzak, PhD, John Fialkovich, Adetola Fadeyibi, Mellory Giberson, Joseph Kaserman, Peter Lloyd, Greta Spottswood, Deborah Dameron, James Vecchio, MD and Jan K. Carney, MD MPH

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 License

Barriers to Completing Colonoscopy Screenings
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