Barriers and facilitators of abdominal aortic aneurysm screening in London: A cross-sectional survey

Objectives: The aim of this research was to identify patient barriers and facilitators of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening in London.

Methods: A survey was distributed to 4211 adults, who had been invited for AAA screening in 2023. Barriers and facilitators were identified by comparing responses between attenders and non-attenders, using univariate logistic regression.

Results: 271 surveys were returned. Attendance was higher among respondents with a body mass index (BMI) > 25 (odds ratio [OR]: 2.72, 95% CIs [1.15, 6.46]; p < 0.05) and those with one or more comorbidities (OR: 3.82, 95% CIs [1.63, 8.98]; p < 0.01), but lower among those who had not visited a healthcare appointment within the past 6 months (OR: 0.41, 95% CIs [0.18, 0.94]). Attendance was also lower among those who believe screening is only useful for people with symptoms (OR: 0.37; 95% CIs [0.16, 0.89]; p < 0.05), find it difficult to make time for medical appointments (OR: 0.25, 95% CIs [0.10, 0.60]; p < 0.01), find it difficult to get to medical appointments (OR: 0.40, 95% CIs [0.17, 0.91]; p < 0.05), have more important medical problems to worry about (OR: 0.28, 95% CIs [0.12, 0.64]; p < 0.01), cannot afford to travel to medical appointments (OR: 0.16, 95% CIs [0.07, 0.38]; p < 0.001), need help getting to appointments (OR: 0.33, 95% CIs [0.13, 0.86]; p < 0.05), have caring responsibilities (OR: 0.15, 95% CIs [0.06, 0.34]; p < 0.001), and forget about appointments (OR: 0.21, 95% CIs [0.09, 0.49]; p < 0.001).

Conclusions: This study provides suggestive data on characteristics that might be associated with not attending AAA screening in London. The study design limitations mean that further work is required to evaluate these characteristics more reliably.