Exploring patients’ values and preferences for colorectal cancer screening

Bowel cancer is one of the most common causes of cancer-related death. Many countries have screening programmes to try and pick up people with early signs of cancer. However, all screening tests require time and effort from participants and can have side effects. For example, having a colonoscopy (a camera examination of the bowel), requires time away from home and medication to be taken before the test. People can also experience pain, bleeding or, in rare cases, damage to the bowel. Understanding how much benefit people typically expect in order for them to choose to have a screening test, and how that varies between people, is important when developing recommendations for screening. In this study we plan to develop a survey to help address these questions. The survey we will give a description of the three most common tests and the potential side effects for each. The survey will then show people different scenarios, each including a description of the screening test alongside pictures showing the potential harms and benefits. For each scenario participants will say whether they would choose screening or not. We will first conduct a study in which we will ask up to 20 people to talk through their thoughts as they complete the survey so we can understand how they are using the information to make decisions about screening in order to answer the questions. We will then ask 1000 people to complete the survey online. The two studies will allow us to describe the logic people use and the thoughts they have as they complete the survey, and how the choice to have screening varies between people, between different tests and on the chance of developing bowel cancer in the future. 

Amount awarded: £13 635