Role of defensive information processing in population-based colorectal cancer screening uptake

Internationally, colorectal cancer screening participation remains low despite the availability of home-based testing and numerous interventions to increase uptake. To be effective, interventions should be based on an understanding of what influences individuals’ decisions about screening participation. A cross-sectional survey among Irish individuals invited to participate in FIT-screening for colorectal cancer found that defensive information processing was a barrier to screening uptake. Two suppression barriers, namely denying the immediacy to be tested and self-exempting oneself from screening, may be promising targets for future interventions to improve uptake.