Barriers and facilitators to colonoscopy: a video observation study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Barriers and facilitators to colonoscopy within the English Bowel Cancer Screening Programme: A video-observation study of specialist screening practitioner consultations with patients with an abnormal faecal immunochemical test screening result.
IRAS ID
324493
Contact name
Robert Kerrison
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Surrey
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
C68512/A28209, Funder's reference number
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 3 months, 1 days
Research summary
Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer people die from in England. Chances for survival are improved when bowel cancer is diagnosed early. Unfortunately, the disease is often diagnosed at a late stage, when it has spread to other parts of the body. This is because it does not often have symptoms during the early stages. As a result, people are often tested for bowel cancer when they don't have symptoms. This process is referred to as screening. Screening works by testing for traces of blood in the poo, which cannot be seen by the naked eye. If a person has blood found in their poo, they will need to have a colonoscopy, to see whether the blood is a result of a tumour in the bowel. Not everyone who is invited for colonoscopy will choose to attend. For those who have cancer, this means they will not diagnosed at the earliest possible opportunity, and they tend to get diagnosed later, once symptoms develop, and their chances for survival are much poorer. In this study, we want to record the consultations in which nurses discuss colonoscopy with patients, to better understand why some choose not to have the test (the decision to attend colonoscopy is made during this consultation). We will then watch these recordings, to see what issues patients raise, and how nurses address them. This will allow us to make recommendations to improve the service, which in turn will hopefully lead to more people attending colonoscopy, and more people being diagnosed at an early stage.
REC name
North of Scotland Research Ethics Committee 2
REC reference
24/NS/0039
Date of REC Opinion
11 Apr 2024
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion