Patients’ compliance with faecal occult blood test in Latvia [poster]

Background: The compliance to faecal occult bloodtest (FOBT) in Latvia is 10.9%. Despite the evidencebased  benefits,  some  negative  psycho  emotionaleffects of screening methods have been recognized. Therefore, patients’acquirement and risks need to beassessed before examinations that are done to improvethe health of the population.Research question:To study the reasons for patients’ cooperation or unwillingness to perform the test.
Methods: A qualitative research, individual interviews were used to obtain the data. In total, 30 respondents were randomly selected. Patients who did agree to complete the test were repeatedly interviewed.
Results: During the first interview 14 persons (47%)agreed to be interviewed, however, they refused todo the FOBT. Reasons for the rejection were ‘lack of time’, ‘inadequate lifestyle, ’‘unwillingness to see thedoctor without complaints’ and ‘uselessness’of the test. Out of 30 interviewed patients, 16 (53%) agreed to do the FOBT. After three weeks, only four participants (13% of the studied group) did perform the test and responded that their motivation was interest about their health and confidence in their generalpractitioner. Those 12 out of 16, who agreed but did not perform the test, reported that the reason forn on-compliance was ‘lack of time’(n¼11) and contraindications (n¼1). Out of 30 selected individuals 47% (n¼14) were women, 53% (n¼16) were men; 77% were employed and 23% were retired; 56% of respondents wished to get FOBT by mail and 44% atthe clinic.
Conclusion: The main reason for not performing theFOBT in the studied group was a lack of time in individuals both willing and unwilling to perform the FOBT.  Reasons  for  cooperation  are  interest  about their health and confidence in their general practitioner. In healthy people, time factor seems to be a priority to understanding the necessity of the cancer screening.