P0327 - Effect of a Local Media Intervention on Interest in Colonoscopy and Colorectal Cancer in the Indianapolis Latino Population: A Google Trends Analysis

Eleazar E.. Montalvan-Sanchez, MD¹, Renato Beas, MD², Diego Izquierdo-Veraza, MD¹, Aida Rodriguez-Murillo, MD¹, Maria Guarnizo-Ortiz, MD¹, Dalton A. Norwood, MD³, Michael Dougherty, MD⁴, Thomas F.. Imperiale, MD^1
1Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN; ²Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN; ³UAB Minority Health and Health Equity Research Center, The University of Alabama at Birmingham Heersink School of Medicine, Birmingham, AL; ⁴Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapoolis, IN

Introduction: Despite decades of efforts to improve screening and treatment for colorectal cancer (CRC) in the US, this cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer-related mortality, and disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities. We designed a media intervention to increase awareness of CRC and CRC screening among the population of Indiana who identify as Latino.

Methods: A Latino CRC awareness campaign was conducted from March 15 to May 15, 2023. The campaign included a website (www.latinocolorectalcancer.com), local Spanish television, and radio. The interviews covered CRC screening methods. A sketch was used to emphasize key points. We conducted a temporal trends analysis using Google Trends of Spanish-language CRC-related search terms in the periods before and after the campaign from Indianapolis. The search terms used were "cancer de colon" and "cancer colorectal" (Spanish terms for "colon cancer" and "colorectal cancer," respectively), as well "colon cancer screening." The outcome of Google Trends is the "relative search volume" (RSV), which measures how frequently search terms are entered in Google relative to the total search volume in a specific region. RSV is scaled from 0 to 100, comparing the term to other popular terms for that region at that time. To account for background variation, we compared the mean RSV for January to May 2022 with that of January to May 2023 using a two-sided t-test.

Results: RSV for “cancer de colon” was significantly greater in 2023 during the campaign period compared with the same time period in 2022 (25.9 vs 6.1, p = 0.03, Table 1, Figure 1). The mean RSVs for the terms “cancer colorectal” and “colon cancer screening” were numerically greater in 2023 than in 2022, but these differences did not reach statistical significance (41.7 vs 29.3, p=0.16, and 13.4 vs 4.4, p=0.18, respectively). Similar results were found for the comparison between the campaign period in 2023 and the corresponding dates in 2022 (Table 1).

Discussion: After implementation of a Latino-focused television and radio campaign along with establishment of a website to increase CRC screening awareness, we found a significant increase in RSV for the term "cancer de colon" during the campaign period as compared to the previous year. This finding suggests that the intervention effectively raised awareness about colon cancer within the Latino community. Targeted media campaigns may be effective for increasing awareness of specific health issues within specific populations.




Disclosures:


Eleazar E.. Montalvan-Sanchez, MD¹, Renato Beas, MD², Diego Izquierdo-Veraza, MD¹, Aida Rodriguez-Murillo, MD¹, Maria Guarnizo-Ortiz, MD¹, Dalton A. Norwood, MD³, Michael Dougherty, MD⁴, Thomas F.. Imperiale, MD¹. P0327 - Effect of a Local Media Intervention on Interest in Colonoscopy and Colorectal Cancer in the Indianapolis Latino Population: A Google Trends Analysis, ACG 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting Abstracts. Vancouver, BC, Canada: American College of Gastroenterology.