KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF GENERAL POPULATION BELONGING TO PHARMACIES OF THE PROVINCE OF PALERMO REGARDING THE COLORECTAL CARCINOMA SCREENING: RESULTS OF A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Colorectal cancer (CC) is one of the leading cause of deaths every year. Oncological screening are health and social intervention that aims to diagnose a disease in an early stage. Although the high sensitivity and specificity of the colorectal cancer screening (CCS), the adherence in the Southern Italian Administrative Regions is low. A cross-sectional study on a sample of subjects belonging to five pharmacies located in the Province of Palermo, Italy, was conducted between June 2019 and February 2020 in order to evaluate knowledge and attitudes of general population regarding CC and CCS. A higher knowledge score among population interviewed was significantly associated with residency in Palermo City (adj-OR = 2.18; IC95% 1.02 - 4.71), with previous participations to an oncological screening program (adj-OR = 1.64; IC95% 1.09 – 6.41), and among subjects that preferred to withdraw the kit in pharmacy (adj-OR = 2.61; IC95% 1.39 – 4.90). Constant monitoring of adherence to screening programs, reasons for screening refusal and the active involvement of the territorial healthcare system (pharmacies and GPs) could contribute in future to an improvement of the acceptance and awareness of organized CCS program.