Research published in JAMA Network Open detailed how patients over 50 felt about forgoing colonoscopies.
Researchers surveyed 1,415 patients older than 50 who previously had a colonoscopy screening with normal results at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor (Mich.) Healthcare System. The patients were asked the following question: "If you personally had serious health problems that were likely to shorten your life and your doctor did not think screening would be of much benefit based on the calculator, how comfortable would you be with not getting any more screening colonoscopies?"
Here are the key insights to know:
1. Out of 1,054 respondents who completed the survey, 300 said they were not at all comfortable with stopping low-value colorectal cancer screenings.
2. Additionally, 509 respondents said age should not be a factor in the decision to stop screening.
3. The use of life expectancy calculators was considered unreasonable by 332 respondents, and 255 respondents thought colorectal cancer risk calculators shouldn't be used to determine when to stop screening.
"The findings suggest that many veterans have strong preferences against screening cessation even when given detailed information about why the benefit may be low. Efforts to tailor screening recommendations may be met by resistance unless they are accompanied by efforts to address underlying perceptions about the benefit of screening," researchers concluded.