07/31/2024
Colorectal cancer screening map aims to narrow care gaps affecting Hispanic/Latino communities
The Hispanic/Latino population has the lowest CRC screening rate among U.S. racial and ethnic groups defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Lower screening often leads to later diagnoses and poorer disease outcomes. The researchers identified hot spots that point to areas where larger Hispanic/Latino population percentages are associated with lower CRC screening rates. The study, published in the American Journal of Public Health, marks a first step towards conducting larger neighborhood-level studies addressing disparities in CRC screening.
“Though we have preliminary evidence that improving CRC screening rates in certain neighborhoods may help Hispanic/Latino communities, we can’t make any definitive statements or take coordinated action due to a lack of scientific data,” says study first author Blake Buchalter, PhD. “Before we can begin to address and resolve these discrepancies in screening uptake, we need more granular screening data broken down by Hispanic/Latino group based on their region or country of origin.”
Dr. Buchalter is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Stephanie Schmit, PhD, MPH, Vice Chair of Genomic Medicine and Acting Associate Director for Cancer Population Sciences in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center. To begin to understand community-level CRC screening disparities, Dr. Buchalter led a team of researchers in analyzing publicly available cancer screening and census databases to gauge CRC screening rates in neighborhoods across the country and build an interactive web map illustrating their findings.
The results are classified by Hispanic/Latino region/country of origin (i.e., Mexico, Puerto Rico, Central/South America, Dominican Republic, and Cuba) as reported to the U.S. Census Bureau to encourage more CRC screening analyses of individual Hispanic/Latino groups. Informed action is impossible without acknowledging the diversity of these communities, Dr. Schmit says.
“It’s important to remember that the Hispanic/Latino community is incredibly diverse,” says Dr. Schmit. “The factors that contribute to screening disparities are not universal. Some people are impacted by financial constraints or access to healthcare facilities, while others may be impacted by language barriers or a lack of trust in medical institutions. To better understand such barriers and how to help address them, we need to identify who is being impacted and where.”
"In the long term, we hope our work will be an impetus for the scientific and biomedical communities to dig deeper into these CRC screening priority areas to understand what disparities look like on the ground,” Dr. Buchalter adds.
Looking forward, Drs. Buchalter and Schmit hope their work will spur further discussion of public policy and community initiatives to assist in prevention in affected neighborhoods and improve access to care.
