Cognitive ability and personality as predictors of participation in a national colorectal cancer screening programme: the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

摘要

Background The English NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme has offered biennial faecal occult blood testing to people aged 60-69 years since 2006, and to those aged 60-74 years since 2010. Analysis of the first 2.6 million screening invitations found that 54% of eligible people took up the invitation. The reasons for this low uptake are unclear. We investigated whether participation in screening varies according to cognitive ability and personality.