Introduction: The purpose of the study was to identify barriers and facilitators of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening use among agricultural operators in Nebraska.
Methods: The ‘Concept Mapping’ approach was used to engage participants and enhance the generation of ideas and opinions regarding CRC screening. Two focus groups (7 women and 7 men) were conducted.
Results: Among women, the cost domain was most agreed upon as important, followed by experiencing symptoms, awareness, and family. Among men, the important concepts related to CRC screening were family and friend support, feeling like too young to get CRC, family or personal history of CRC, and lack of awareness of the need to be screened. Some gender differences regarding barriers were observed, such as women were more concerned about the cost of screening while men were far more concerned about the embarrassment associated with CRC screening.
Conclusion: These findings will be crucial to developing educational materials to increase knowledge of risk factors for CRC and CRC screening in the agricultural population.
Keywords: agricultural, colorectal cancer, focus group, screening.