Geographical and spatial variations in bowel cancer screening participation, Australia, 2015–2020
Article
Dasgupta, Paramita, Cameron, Jessica K., Goodwin, Belinda, Cramb, Susanna M., Mengersen, Kerrie, Aitken, Joanne F. and Baade, Peter D.. 2023. "Geographical and spatial variations in bowel cancer screening participation, Australia, 2015–2020." PLoS One. 18 (7). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288992
| Article Title | Geographical and spatial variations in bowel cancer screening participation, Australia, 2015–2020 |
|---|---|
| ERA Journal ID | 39745 |
| Article Category | Article |
| Authors | Dasgupta, Paramita, Cameron, Jessica K., Goodwin, Belinda, Cramb, Susanna M., Mengersen, Kerrie, Aitken, Joanne F. and Baade, Peter D. |
| Journal Title | PLoS One |
| Journal Citation | 18 (7) |
| Article Number | e0288992 |
| Number of Pages | 16 |
| Year | 2023 |
| Publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| Place of Publication | United States |
| ISSN | 1932-6203 |
| Digital Object Identifier (DOI) | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288992 |
| Web Address (URL) | https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0288992 |
| Abstract | Background Participation in bowel cancer screening programs remains poor in many countries. Knowledge of geographical variation in participation rates may help design targeted interventions to improve uptake. This study describes small-area and broad geographical patterns in bowel screening participation in Australia between 2015–2020. Methods Publicly available population-level participation data for Australia’s National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) were modelled using generalized linear models to quantify screening patterns by remoteness and area-level disadvantage. Bayesian spatial models were used to obtain smoothed estimates of participation across 2,247 small areas during 2019–2020 compared to the national average, and during 2015–2016 and 2017–2018 for comparison. Spatial heterogeneity was assessed using the maximized excess events test. Results Overall, screening participation rates was around 44% over the three time-periods. Participation was consistently lower in remote or disadvantaged areas, although heterogeneity was evident within these broad categories. There was strong evidence of spatial differences in participation over all three periods, with little change in patterns between time periods. If the spatial variation was reduced (so low participation areas were increased to the 80th centile), an extra 250,000 screens (4% of total) would have been conducted during 2019–2020. Conclusions Despite having a well-structured evidence-based government funded national bowel cancer screening program, the substantial spatial variation in participation rates highlights the importance of accounting for the unique characteristics of specific geographical regions and their inhabitants. Identifying the reasons for geographical disparities could inform interventions to achieve more equitable access and a higher overall bowel screening uptake. Copyright: © 2023 Dasgupta et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Keywords | bowel cancer; screening ; Australia |
| ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 4299. Other health sciences |
| Byline Affiliations | Cancer Council Queensland, Australia |
| Queensland University of Technology | |
| Centre for Health Research | |
| University of Queensland | |
| Griffith University |
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https://research.usq.edu.au/item/z2593/geographical-and-spatial-variations-in-bowel-cancer-screening-participation-australia-2015-2020
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