Role of community pharmacies in a population-based colorectal cancer screening program

TY - JOUR

T1 - Role of community pharmacies in a population-based colorectal cancer screening program

AU - Vives, Nuria

AU - Milà, Núria

AU - Binefa, Gemma

AU - Travier, Noemie

AU - Farre, Albert

AU - Vidal, Carmen

AU - Sattari, Maryam

AU - Bagaria, Guillermo

AU - Garcia, Montse

N1 - Funding Information: This study was partially cofounded by I SCIII-Subdirección General de Evaluación and by FEDER funds/European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)—a way to build Europe ( PI19/00226 ). The funders will not participate in the study design; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; and the decision to submit the report for publication. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 Elsevier Inc. Copyright: Copyright 2021 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

PY - 2021/4/1

Y1 - 2021/4/1

N2 - In Catalonia (Spain), population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening offers biennial fecal occult blood testing to men and women aged 50-69 years old. The program is organized in screening hubs, most of which use a pharmacy-based model to distribute and collect fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kits The comprehensive evaluation of CRC screening programs, which include the role and implications of pharmacy involvement, is essential to ensure program quality and identify areas for further improvement. The present study aimed to assess the adherence of community pharmacies to the CRC screening program and to analyze data on FIT kit distribution and collection in the Metropolitan area of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). Time to FIT completion was assessed by Kaplan-Meier estimation, and with the log-rank test. A Cox regression model was used to adjust for other variables associated with the completion of FIT such as sex, age, deprivation score index and previous screening behavior. Overall, 82.4% of pharmacies adhered with CRC screening program. Out of 82,902 FIT kits distributed to screening invitees 77,524 completed FIT kits were returned to pharmacies (93.5%) with a participation of 39.8% among the 193,766 invitees. From those who completed a FIT, the median time to return the kit was 3 days. FIT completion time was significantly lower among women, older age, high deprivation score index and previous CRC screening (p < 0.005). Our findings highlight the large involvement of community pharmacists with CRC screening program as well as a high quality in the process of FIT distribution and collection.

AB - In Catalonia (Spain), population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening offers biennial fecal occult blood testing to men and women aged 50-69 years old. The program is organized in screening hubs, most of which use a pharmacy-based model to distribute and collect fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kits The comprehensive evaluation of CRC screening programs, which include the role and implications of pharmacy involvement, is essential to ensure program quality and identify areas for further improvement. The present study aimed to assess the adherence of community pharmacies to the CRC screening program and to analyze data on FIT kit distribution and collection in the Metropolitan area of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain). Time to FIT completion was assessed by Kaplan-Meier estimation, and with the log-rank test. A Cox regression model was used to adjust for other variables associated with the completion of FIT such as sex, age, deprivation score index and previous screening behavior. Overall, 82.4% of pharmacies adhered with CRC screening program. Out of 82,902 FIT kits distributed to screening invitees 77,524 completed FIT kits were returned to pharmacies (93.5%) with a participation of 39.8% among the 193,766 invitees. From those who completed a FIT, the median time to return the kit was 3 days. FIT completion time was significantly lower among women, older age, high deprivation score index and previous CRC screening (p < 0.005). Our findings highlight the large involvement of community pharmacists with CRC screening program as well as a high quality in the process of FIT distribution and collection.

KW - Colorectal cancer

KW - Community pharmacy

KW - Mass screening

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/85099372257

U2 - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106420

DO - 10.1016/j.ypmed.2021.106420

M3 - Article

C2 - 33422578

SN - 0091-7435

VL - 145

JO - Preventive Medicine

JF - Preventive Medicine

M1 - 106420

ER -