Using Educational Materials to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening Rates

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading, and third most preventable cancer in the United States (U.S.) (Center for Disease Control [CDC], 2019a) As the second leading cause of deaths in the U.S., more than 90% of CRC cases occur in people age 50 and older (CDC, 2019a). Roughly about 21.7 million of those at greatest risk of developing CRC have not been screened as recommended (CDC, 2019b). According to the national guidelines, the United States Preventative Service Task Force [USPSTF] recommends screening for CRC using a fecal occult blood testing (FIT or gFOBT) yearly, a sigmoidoscopy every 5 years along with a FIT or gFOBT every 3 years, or a colonoscopy every 10 years in adults beginning at age 50 years and continuing until age 75 years (USPSTF, 2019). Early screening for CRC is of utmost importance with the main benefit being that it can prevent colorectal cancer or find it early, and reduce the chance that a person will die from CRC because treatment often leads to a cure (CDC, 2019c; USPSTF, 2019).