CRC Screening Expansion Strains Community Health Centers: Daily Dose

Patient Care brings primary care clinicians a lot of medical news every day—it’s easy to miss an important study. The Daily Dose provides a concise summary of one of the website's leading stories you may not have seen.

On January 3, 2025, we reported on findings from a study published in Scientific Reports that examined the impact of the revised colorectal cancer (CRC) screening guidelines set forth by the US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and their impact on community health centers (CHCs).

The study

In May 2021, the USPSTF revised the CRC screening guidelines in response to the rising incidence of CRC in younger individuals with a grade B recommendation for screening initiation at age 45. Investigators conducted the current study to examine CRC screening rates across 10 CHCs in Massachusetts as well as estimate the additional increase in the number of average-risk adults aged 45 to 49 years following the revision of the USPSTF guidelines. A total of 70 808 individuals aged 45 to 75 years were included in the study.

The findings

The revised USPSTF CRC screening guidelines resulted in a 22.9% increase in patients eligible for screening at the participating CHCs.

The findings also showed that the overall CRC screening rate was 35.9%, with a start contrast in rates among different age groups. The screening rate was lowest among adults aged 45 to 49 years at 9.6%, and highest among those aged 55 to 75 years at 47.0%.

Authors' comments

"After the revision in the USPSTF colorectal cancer screening guidelines, there were a significant number of additional individuals eligible for colorectal cancer screening without an increase in resources. Expanded financial resources should be imparted on CHCs through federal grants, and/or increased reimbursement and financial incentives from insurers to assist them in reaching this larger screening eligible population."

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