Abstract S02-04: Drive By Flu-FIT: A novel way to mitigate the decrease in colorectal cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Armenta Washington, Leroy Miles, Claudia Melendez, Brenda Bryant, Alexander Auchus, Michael Goldberg, Scott Melnick, Juanita Way, Danielle Grant, Kimberly Highsmith, Carmen E. Guerra
Journal: Clinical Cancer Research (2021)

Abstract Background: During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, screening colonoscopy rates decreased by 90%. The decreased screening rates will increase the burden of colorectal cancer (CRC) in communities. The pandemic has created a need for novel models for safely engaging and screening community members for CRC. Methods: We implemented NCI’s Screen to Save CRC screening campaign using a socially-distanced, Drive By Flu-FIT protocol and report the results of the FIT component of the program. In partnership with the leadership of Enon Tabernacle Church, the largest Baptist church in the Philadelphia region, we invited community members at average risk for CRC and between the ages of 45-75 to register for one of three Drive by Flu-FIT events held between Oct-Nov, 2020. Interested participants also completed eligibility, registration, and demographic questionnaires administered electronically via REDCap. Upon completion of these questionnaires, participants watched a 8-minute CRC screening educational video and pre- and post- CRC knowledge and intentions questionnaires. Participants who attended one of the three events received a Flu vaccine and/or FIT test and instructions to return the completed FIT to a medical collection box at Enon Tabernacle Church. This research was approved by the University of Pennsylvania’s Institutional Review Board. Results: Of the 335 participants that registered for the event, 80 (23.9%) did not show, 63 (18.8%) were ineligible and 192 attended the event and received a FIT (57.3%). Reasons for ineligibility were: age outside of the recommended age for screening (n=40); having had a recent colonoscopy (n=13); symptoms/signs of CRC including change in your bowel habits, rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, iron deficiency anemia, unexplained weight loss (n=10); a possible family history or possible Lynch syndrome (n=1). Patients with symptoms/signs and family history of CRC were referred to colonoscopy. The 192 participants that comprised this analytic had a mean (s.d.) age of 58.9 (9.5) years, 60.4% were female, 93.8% self-identified as Black, and 1.6% as Hispanic. The pre- and post-knowledge scores showed an increase after the video intervention (p=0.0006) as did the intention to screen scores (p=0.007). To date, of the 192 participants who received a FIT, 38 (19.7%) did not return the FIT, 141 (73.4%) had a negative FIT result and 13 (6.7%) had a positive FIT result and were referred to colonoscopy. The results of colonoscopy are pending. Conclusions This research shows that a socially-distanced Drive By Flu-FIT program is feasible, acceptable and effective in engaging the community in CRC education and screening during the COVID-19 pandemic. Novel programs such as this can help mitigate the significant decline in screening for CRC that has occurred as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and, thus, can help reduce the burden of CRC in our diverse communities. Citation Format: Armenta Washington, Leroy Miles, Claudia Melendez, Brenda Bryant, Alexander Auchus, Michael Goldberg, Scott Melnick, Juanita Way, Danielle Grant, Kimberly Highsmith, Carmen E. Guerra. Drive By Flu-FIT: A novel way to mitigate the decrease in colorectal cancer screening during the COVID-19 pandemic [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Meeting: COVID-19 and Cancer; 2021 Feb 3-5. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Clin Cancer Res 2021;27(6_Suppl):Abstract nr S02-04.