P2131 - Colon Cancer Awareness Among South Asians in the New York City Area

Akash Kumar CJ, MPH¹, Sandhya Cautha, MD², Sumi Sarkar, BS², Vasundhara Kalasapudi, MD², Bharati Kochar, MD^3
1New York, NY; ²Jamaica, NY; ³Mass General Gastroenterology, Boston, MA

Introduction: South Asians in the New York City (NYC) region have the lowest rate of colon cancer screening of any racial and ethnic group. We aimed to explore knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of South Asians in the NYC region with regards to colorectal cancer (CRC) and CRC-screening.

Methods: We designed a survey to determine awareness about colon cancer, perceived risk, and attitudes toward screening among self-identified individuals of South Asian origin aged 45-75 years. We administered the survey through a community-based organization’s centers, community-based health fairs and cultural gatherings. The primary outcome was self-reported completion of colon cancer screening. We used descriptive statistics and constructed a multivariable logistic regression model to determine factors associated with colon cancer screening.



Results: We recruited 282 South Asians with a median age of 66 years; 59% were female and median years of living in the United States was 30 years. The cohort represented the diversity of the South Asian diaspora in the NYC Region (see Table 1). Significant differences between those who were screened for CRC and those who were not screened were in age, country of origin, living alone, having a PCP, having a family history of any cancer, knowing other people with any cancer as well as knowledge of CRC. In this cohort, 63% heard of CRC and 25% know of someone with CRC. The majority felt that CRC was deadly (75%) and preventable (74%). Only 20% felt at personal risk for CRC. Leading reasons for not feeling at risk were because people felt healthy and reported having healthy food habits. In this cohort, 56% reported being screened for colon cancer. After adjusting for clinically pertinent and statistically significant covariates, having a PCP recommendation to get colon cancer screened was most strongly associated with CRC screening (Odds Ratio: 4.69, 95% CI: 2.48 – 8.86, see Figure 1).

Discussion: In this survey of South Asians in the NYC region, only 56% had colon cancer screening. While colon cancer was felt to be deadly, but preventable, most did not feel at personal risk for colon cancer. PCP recommendation was the most significantly associated factor with CRC screening. Enhancing PCP engagement to educate patients in a culturally tailored and targeted manner about their personal risk is essential for increasing CRC-screening in this under-screened population.



Disclosures:


Akash Kumar CJ, MPH¹, Sandhya Cautha, MD², Sumi Sarkar, BS², Vasundhara Kalasapudi, MD², Bharati Kochar, MD³. P2131 - Colon Cancer Awareness Among South Asians in the New York City Area, ACG 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Philadelphia, PA: American College of Gastroenterology.