Targeted outreach is needed to increase the completion rates for USPSTF-recommended cancer screenings in socially vulnerable areas.
That’s according to new research published in JAMA that assigned social vulnerability index (SVI) scores to areas with known social determinants of health (SDoH). The scores were analyzed alongside screening rates in these areas for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers in comparison to their neighboring, more resource-rich regions. Results of the work indicate that screening rates between regions vary widely, prompting experts to implore for a more targeted approach to reach vulnerable patients.
“Unlike individual-level determinants, area-level determinants capture the conditions that commonly affect all individuals residing in the same area. Understanding these contextual effects could help identify modifiable risk factors that are amenable to public health policies and population- or area-focused interventions and is therefore crucial for developing effective screening uptake policies,” corresponding author of the paper Ryan Suk, PhD, MS, with the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston School of Public Health, and co-authors explained.
SVI accounts for factors like socioeconomic status, household composition, disability, minority status, language, housing type and transportation. Experts used SVI data sets from 2018 for 3,141 U.S. counties to assess whether there is a correlation between SVI and cancer screening rates.
Regional disparities were evident, with screening rates ranging from 54.0% to 81.8% for breast cancer screening, 69.9% to 89.7% for cervical cancer screening and from 39.8% to 74.4% for colorectal cancer screening. Higher SVI was found to be significantly associated with lower odds of screening completion. In line with prior research, areas with lower screening compliance were considered rural and had higher rates of uninsured individuals.
The authors of the study stated that their work adds to the growing body of evidence that area-level SDoH needs to be accounted for when comprising outreach efforts and that “geographically targeted” interventions could positively impact screening uptake.
More insight from the study can be found here.
In addition to her background in journalism, Hannah also has patient-facing experience in clinical settings, having spent more than 12 years working as a registered rad tech. She joined Innovate Healthcare in 2021 and has since put her unique expertise to use in her editorial role with Health Imaging.