Survey respondents planning to have screening colonoscopy report unique barriers.

Tailoring colorectal cancer screening interventions to address the needs of individuals for whom screening is recommended requires accurate identification of the barriers experienced by each targeted group. The primary purpose of this survey study was to test differences in the barriers to undergoing screening colonoscopy reported by men and women. In addition, we were interested in differences in barriers reported by 1) 50-year-olds versus those age 51 to 80 years, 2) persons reporting readiness for colonoscopy versus those not reporting readiness, and 3) persons who had had a primary care encounter in the preceding 12 months versus those who had not.