• Yamila Schenfeld, Joel Schernenco, María Belén Bellando, Manuel Robles, Gonzalo Picardi, Iñaki M Dopazo Danieli, Lucía Albanesi, María Ernestina Reig, María Eugenia Esandi, and Ariana Bruzzone.
• Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
• Medicina (B Aires). 2024 Jan 1; 84 (2): 267278267-278.

IntroductionColorectal cancer (CRC) is a global health problem. In the public sector of Bahía Blanca, CRC screening is opportunistic, through the request of fecal occult blood test (FOBT). The objective of this study is to describe access to CRC screening for the population with exclusive public coverage residing in the programmatic area 2 of the city between 2019 and 2021, and to identify the barriers and facilitators that determine it.MethodsThe annual and cumulative usage rate was estimated based on the number of patients who requested FOBT. The barriers and facilitators were studied through 41 semi-structured individual interviews to healthcare staff from the area, the Municipal Hospital, Health Secretariat and users/non-users of the system.ResultsThe cumulative usage rate of FOBT during the period was less than 5%. Among the perceived barriers to screening, we found: the difficulties in accessing more complex studies for patients with positive FOBT, the lack of population awareness and perception of CRC as a health problem, the low adherence of professionals to guidelines. The territoriality and link of health centers with the population, as well as the willingness of users and professionals to incorporate screening, emerge as facilitators.ConclusionThe identification of barriers and facilitators will allow the design of context-adapted strategies that will strengthen screening in the future.

20 keywords...

hide…