Testing The Efficacy Of Peer-PN For Latinos On Colonoscopy Screening Uptake
Jamilia SLY, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, United States
JANDORF L. 1
,
ITZKOWITZ S. 1
,
WINKEL G. 1
,
ERWIN D. 2
1 Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York City, United States
2 Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, United States
Purpose: Colorectal cancer (CRC) mortality is preventable through endoscopic screening. Unfortunately Latinos have lower rates of CRC screening compared to whites and other United States (US) racial groups and, as a result, are also more likely than whites to be diagnosed with advanced-stage CRC. Providing patients with help navigating the health care system (i.e., patient navigation [PN]) is related to cancer screening completion. However, very few hospitals provide PN for colonoscopy; partly because of the costs associated with professional-led PN. Peer-led PN may be a less costly, effective alternative. The purpose of this pilot was to investigate the efficacy of a culturally adapted peer-led PN intervention to increase CRC screening among Latinos.
Methods: Latino participants at a primary care clinic aged 50 and older (N= 75) were referred for a screening colonoscopy by their physician. Participants were randomized to receive navigation assistance from (1) a professional PN (PRO; n=36) or (2) a trained peer-patient PN (PEER; n=39). PEER PNs were bilingual Latinos who had undergone a colonoscopy, and were able to discuss how they overcame barriers.
Results: Both groups were equivalent in terms of socio-demographic measures (i.e. gender, education, insurance). A total of 54 participants (72.0%) completed a screening colonoscopy. In the PEER group (intervention) 53.7% (N=29) completed compared to 46.3% (N=25) in the PRO group (control) (p=0.80).
Conclusions: Both navigation groups were equivalent in terms of screening completion; the two groups did not differ statistically. This culturally adapted intervention has the potential to increase CRC screening rates of Latinos and would be useful to the development of future large-scale interventions adapted for other cultural groups. Given the low cost, peer-led PN is a promising approach for the early detection and prevention of colorectal cancer in low-resource settings.
Funding Source: This work was supported by the American Cancer Society (124141-PF-13-018-01-CPPB).