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Individual Intervention with Low-Income and Minority Patients Increases Colonoscopy Rates |
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From EurekAlert! - Breaking News: Patient interventions are necessary to achieve higher rates of colorectal cancer screening in low-income and minority patients, according to two studies in the current issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, the official journal of the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) Institute. The first study examined patient attendance for scheduled colonoscopies at a large safety net health care system, Denver Health Medical Center. The Denver research team conducted a six-month retrospective review of outpatient endoscopy laboratory scheduling and procedure logs at the center and concluded that 41.7 percent of 817 scheduled outpatient colonoscopies were not attended by patients. Because the rationale and required steps for completing colonoscopy are complex, individual intervention with patient navigators -- non-clinical individuals who are specially trained to navigate the health care system -- may be particularly helpful. Specifically examining the role patient intervention plays in completed colonoscopy rates in urban minorities, a research team from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York and the City University of New York evaluated the effects of introducing patient navigators in working with urban minorities to complete colonoscopy appointments. The team provided a patient navigator to 532 colonoscopy patients to help guide them through preparation for the procedure and encourage attendance after the primary care physician recommended the procedure. Results showed that 67 percent (353) of navigated patients proceeded with their colonoscopies, and the no-show rate among urban minorities in the study was 9.8 percent, down from the approximately 40 percent average prior to the onset of the navigator program.
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