Barriers, Beliefs, and Knowledge Scale*
| Yes | No | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barriers items† | ||||
| Someone encouraged me. | −1 | +1 | ||
| Someone discouraged me. | +1 | −1 | ||
| I have insurance. | −1 | +1 | ||
| Strongly Agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree | |
| Screening takes too much time. | +2 | +1 | −1 | −2 |
| I don’t know where to get screened. | +2 | +1 | −1 | −2 |
| Screening costs too much. | +2 | +1 | −1 | −2 |
| Discomfort keeps me from getting screened. (FS)‡ | +2 | +1 | −1 | −2 |
| Beliefs items§ | ||||
| If you feel OK, a flex sig or FOBT won’t find anything. | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| The test is uncomfortable. (FS)‡ | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| Enemas are a bother. (FS)‡ | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| It’s safe. | +2 | +1 | −1 | −2 |
| It hurts. (FS)‡ | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| It’s useful. | +2 | +1 | −1 | −2 |
| It’s embarrassing. | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| It’s messy. (FOBT)‖ | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| It’s too hard. (FOBT)‖ | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| It’s disgusting. (FOBT)‖ | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| Afraid if they find something, part of my colon would be removed. (FOBT)‖ | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| Knew | Didn’t Know | |||
| Knowledge items¶ | ||||
| The name of the test as a test useful in detecting colon cancer. | +1 | −1 | ||
| What a Flex Sig or FOBT is. | +1 | −1 | ||
| How often to be screened. | +1 | −1 | ||
| Agree | Disagree | |||
| After a couple tests are ok, don’t need to be tested anymore. | −1 | +1 | ||
| Colon cancer runs in families. | +1 | −1 | ||
| Only people who eat a lot of high fat foods will get colon cancer. | −1 | +1 | ||
| Strongly Agree | Agree | Disagree | Strongly Disagree | |
| People have no control over whether colon cancer will be detected early. | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| Taking vitamins can help prevent colon cancer. | +2 | +1 | −1 | −2 |
| Regular exercise can help prevent colon cancer. | +2 | +1 | −1 | −2 |
| A person can tell if he/she has colon cancer without going to the doctor for tests. | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
| Colon cancer can’t be cured, so there’s no reason to get screened. | −2 | −1 | +1 | +2 |
*
FS indicates flexible sigmoidoscopy; FOBT, fecal occult blood test. Barriers, Beliefs, and Knowledge scores were calculated by summing over scores for individual items in each scale as shown in the table. Raw summary scores were then converted to a 0 to 10 scale for use in descriptive statistics and analyses.
†
A higher score for Barriers indicates more barriers to getting an FS or FOBT.
‡
Only asked on the FS section of the survey.
§
A higher score for Beliefs indicates positive beliefs about FS or FOBT screening.
‖
Only asked on the FOBT section of the survey.
¶
A higher score for Knowledge indicates more knowledge about tests and colorectal screening.