Abstract B017: Rural interventions for screening effectiveness: Baseline cancer screening behaviors of rural women of Indiana and Ohio
Authors: Paskett Electra D , Baltic Ryan D , Katz Mira L , Young Gregory S , Rawl Susan , Champion Victoria 
Published: September 2020

Rural areas of the United States experience increased cancer incidence and mortality rates and lower cancer screening rates compared to urban areas. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, Ohio and Indiana are ranked 8th and 10th highest, respectively, for cancer mortality rates nationally. The Rural Interventions for Screening Effectiveness (RISE) Study conducted by The Ohio State University and Indiana University focuses on improving breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening rates in rural areas of both states to reduce this cancer burden. RISE is testing two interventions to educate and encourage women in rural counties of Ohio and Indiana ages 50-74 years to complete any needed screenings. Participants complete baseline and 12-month surveys and receive usual care brochures, an interactive DVD, or the DVD along with phone-based assistance from a patient navigator. In order to be eligible to participate, women must be residents of a rural county of either state, outside of guidelines for breast, cervical, and/or colorectal cancer screening per medical record review, and have no personal history of inflammatory bowel disease, cancer (except non-melanoma skin cancer), or genetic conditions that increase cancer risk. Baseline demographic and cancer screening history data were collected from 1634 women (1041 Ohio, 593 Indiana), and 985 were ultimately eligible and enrolled in the study (599 Ohio, 386 Indiana). Women who were within guidelines for all three screening tests were excluded from the study; 442 (42.5%) in Ohio and 207 (34.9%) in Indiana. A larger proportion of Indiana women were outside of guidelines for all three screening tests (80 of 593 (13.5%)) compared to Ohio women (107 of 1041 (10.3%)). Across both states, more women were adherent to breast cancer screening guidelines (75.3%) than cervical (66%) or colorectal cancer screening guidelines (58.8%). A comparison of screening behaviors of Indiana and Ohio participants will be conducted to determine if differences between the two exist. Analyses will focus on being inside or outside of guidelines by individual test (breast, cervical, and colorectal) and all three tests combined. Although rural women of Midwest states are often considered to be very similar, differences in screening behaviors exist, even between women of neighboring states, and future efforts to improve the cancer burden in rural women could benefit from considering factors that contribute to these differences, such as access to quality care.

Citation Format: Electra D Paskett, Ryan D Baltic, Mira L Katz, Gregory S Young, Susan Rawl, Victoria Champion. Rural interventions for screening effectiveness: Baseline cancer screening behaviors of rural women of Indiana and Ohio [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Twelfth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2019 Sep 20-23; San Francisco, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(6 Suppl_2):Abstract nr B017.