Responsiveness of residents to the National program for screening and early detection of precancerous changes and cancer of the colon and rectum - Program Svit
Responsiveness of residents to the National Program for screening and early detection of precancerous changes and cancer of the colon and rectum - The Svit program tells how many invited residents aged 50-74 (50-69 years up to and including 2014) responded to the invitation to the program and were willing to submit a stool sample to be tested for occult blood in the stool. The presence of blood in the stool means that the cause of the bleeding should be investigated by colonoscopy. If the examination reveals changes that could represent cancer, appropriate treatment is required. In this way, in people who do not have any signs of the disease, we detect precancerous changes and early stages of the disease, when the treatment is short-term and successful.
According to the number of new cases, colon and rectal cancer is the second most common cancer in Slovenia. Screening has been shown to be effective in reducing morbidity and premature mortality. When screening for colon and rectal cancer, it is important that the largest possible proportion of those invited respond every two years, as this way we can detect changes at an early stage, which otherwise develop slowly.
Public opinion support and the promotion of preventive programs in the local community are very important for residents' responsiveness. Health workers and supporters of the screening program, with the support of the local community, contribute to the recognition of the program and the decisions of individuals to participate in testing. For the effectiveness of the program at the population level, we want to achieve over 70% response rate.
Response to the Svit Program describes the share of residents who returned a declaration of participation to the Svit Program during the calendar year, among all residents who received an invitation to the program during the calendar year.
Percent (%).
Resident response to the Svit Program is the ratio between the number of residents who returned a declaration of participation in the observed calendar year and the number of all residents who received an invitation to the program in the same calendar year, multiplied by 100.
Among the invited residents, there are no those who are without compulsory health insurance for several months at the time of the invitation. From the number of invited residents, the number of those to whom mail could not be served is subtracted.
Responsiveness in the Svit Program
Data are published annually, available from 2009 onwards.
- Program Svit ( www.program-svit.si ).
- European Guidelines for Quality Assurance in Colorectal Cancer screening and Diagnosis. Available on 26/10/2015 from the website: ec.europa.eu/health/major_chronic_diseases/diseases/cancer/index_en.htm .
Collection of the Svit Program, National Institute of Public Health.
Population, Central Population Register.
Insured persons, Institute for Health Insurance of Slovenia.