Kaunas city "X" clinic patients attitude to colorectal cancer prevention programe

Aim of the study – to evaluate Kaunas city „X“ clinic patients’ attitude to colorectal cancer prevention programme. Methods. Patients were questioned according to the questionnaire that was made namely for this research. It evaluated patients’ knowledge about colorectal cancer and colorectal cancer prevention programme, patients’ attitude towards the programme and participation in the programme. Descriptive and multivariate statistics were used for data analysis. Results. 327 patients of Kaunas „X“ clinic who can participate in free colorectal cancer prevention programme and are between the ages of 50-74 took part in this research. 34.3 % of them were men and 65.7 % were women. Almost three quarters of respondents know what colorectal cancer prevention programme is and less than two thirds of them know what colonoscopy is. Nearly four fifths of respondents know how colorectal cancer prevention programme is made and almost nine tenths know that it is free. Most of the respondents have good knowledge about the colorectal cancer, colorectal cancer risk factors, are able to recognize the main symptoms of colorectal cancer, have positive attitude towards faecal occult blood test and less positive attitude towards colonoscopy. More than two thirds of respondents claimed that they were invited to participate in colorectal cancer prevention programme and took the test home from clinic. Patient’s informativeness about colorectal cancer prevention programme and knowledge about programme is closely related with patients’ determination to take part in the programme. Individuals who agreed to participate in the colorectal cancer prevention programme had better knowledge of colorectal cancer, risk factors and symptoms of the disease, and had more favourable attitudes towards faecal occult blood test and colonoscopy than those who refused to participate in the programme, were not invited or did not know if they were invited. Healthier lifestyle and polyps in bowel were also associated with increased participation in the colorectal cancer prevention programme, and the presence of an oncological illness or family members with this disease was not associated with greater involvement