Methods to increase participation in organised screening programs: a systematic review.

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Preventive Medicine
• Oncology

Background:

• European Community guidelines advocate for population-based screening programs for cervical, breast, and colorectal cancers.
• Observational studies confirm that organized screening effectively reduces mortality and optimizes test utilization.
• This review systematically assesses interventions designed to improve participation in these organized screening programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at increasing participation in organized population-based cancer screening programs.
• To identify specific interventions that demonstrably improve screening uptake across different cancer types.

Main Methods:

• Systematic review of studies published between January 1999 and July 2012.
• Inclusion of data from a prior review (Jepson et al., 2000) for studies published before 1999.
• Analysis of quantitative data on interventions for cervical, breast, colorectal, and combined cancer screenings.

Main Results:

• Postal reminders showed significant increases in participation for breast (RR=1.37), cervical (RR=1.71), and colorectal (RR=1.33) cancers.
• Telephone reminders and GP signature on invitation letters also effectively boosted screening rates across all examined cancer types.
• Scheduled appointments (vs. open) and mailing self-sampling kits for cervical cancer demonstrated substantial improvements in participation.

Conclusions:

• Several interventions, including postal reminders, telephone reminders, and scheduled appointments, are effective in increasing participation in organized cancer screening.
• The effectiveness and applicability of these interventions may be influenced by specific program variables.
• Further research may be needed to optimize intervention strategies for diverse population-based screening programs.