Table 1.
Characteristics of focus groups
| Characteristics | Females | Males | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto (n = 11) | Kitchener (n = 11) | Toronto (n = 9) | Kitchener (n = 10) | |
| General population groups | ||||
| Age (mean, years) | 61.1 | 60.8 | 63.6 | 61.2 |
| Main activity | ||||
| Working (paid or volunteer) | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Homemaker | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| Retired or partly retired | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Unable to work or looking for work | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Highest level schooling | ||||
| No formal schooling | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Primary school | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Secondary school | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| College programme | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| University degree | 6 | 2 | 5 | 5 |
| Ever had cancer? | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Member of family had cancer | 9 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
| Ever had one of screening tests | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |
| Missing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| If yes, test types | ||||
| Faecal occult blood | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| Barium enema | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Sigmoidoscopy | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Colonoscopy | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| Female | Male | |
| (n = 9) | (n = 9) | |
| Gastrointestinal patient focus group | ||
| Age (years) | ||
| 30–39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40–49 | 2 | 0 |
| 50–59 | 2 | 0 |
| 60–69 | 4 | 4 |
| 70–79 | 1 | 4 |
| Main activity | ||
| Working (paid or volunteer) | 4 | 3 |
| Homemaker | 0 | 0 |
| Looking for work | 0 | 0 |
| Retired or partly retired | 4 | 5 |
| Unable to work because of physical problems | 1 | 1 |
| Other | 0 | 0 |
| Highest level schooling | ||
| No formal schooling | 0 | 0 |
| Primary school | 0 | 0 |
| Secondary school | 3 | 4 |
| College programme | 4 | 1 |
| University degree | 2 | 4 |
| Care of gastroenterologist | ||
| <3 years | 3 | 2 |
| 3–5 years 11 months | 2 | 2 |
| ≥6 years | 4 | 4 |
| Missing | 0 | 1 |
| Faecal occult blood test | ||
| Ever faecal occult blood test | 3 | 3 |
| Number of faecal occult blood tests in past 5 years | ||
| 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Barium enema | ||
| Ever barium enema | 4 | 4 |
| Number of barium enema in past 5 years | ||
| 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Missing | 0 | 1 |
| Sigmoidoscopy | ||
| Ever sigmoidoscopy | 5 | 3 |
| Number of sigmoidoscopy in past 5 years | ||
| 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Missing | 0 | 1 |
| Colonoscopy | ||
| Ever colonoscopy | 9 | 9 |
| Number of colonoscopy in past 5 years | ||
| 1 | 5 | 1 |
| 2–4 | 3 | 6 |
| ≥5 | 1 | 1 |
| Missing | 0 | 1 |
| Toronto | Kitchener | |
| Doctor focus groups | (n = 8) | (n = 7) |
| Gender | ||
| Female | 4 | 2 |
| Male | 4 | 5 |
| Age (years) | ||
| 30–39 | 3 | 1 |
| 40–49 | 3 | 1 |
| 50–59 | 1 | 3 |
| 60–69 | 1 | 0 |
| 70–79 | 0 | 1 |
| Missing | 0 | 1 |
| Years in active practice | ||
| >5 | 0 | 1 |
| 5–9 | 1 | 0 |
| 10–19 | 4 | 1 |
| 20–29 | 2 | 4 |
| 30–39 | 1 | 1 |
| College of family doctors certificant? | ||
| Yes | 5 | 2 |
| Completed family medicine residency? | ||
| Yes | 3 | 3 |
| Practice type | ||
| Solo | 3 | 4 |
| Group | 5 | 2 |
| Clinic (multispecialty) | 0 | 0 |
| Other | 0 | 1 |
Group practices ranged from two to eight doctors.