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Effectiveness of timed and non-timed second appointments in improving uptake in breast cancer screening
Sue Hudson1, Debbie Brazil2, William Teh3
1Peel and Schriek Consulting Limited, UK.
Objectives:
To estimate the effect on breast screening uptake of delayed, targeted, second timed appointments in women who did not take up an initial breast cancer screening appointment offer.
Methods:
Non-attending women received a four-month delayed second timed appointment following non-response to the initial invitation and the normal open invitation sent to non-attenders. A comparison group was sent a four-month delayed additional open invitation.
Results:
Response to the second timed appointments (percentage of re-invited women eventually attending in this episode) was 20%, corresponding to an estimated increase on total uptake of 6%. Response was highest in women who had previously attended screens. Response in the women offered an additional delayed open invitation was 7.5%, corresponding to an estimated 2.3% increase in overall uptake.
Conclusions:
Second timed appointments were almost three times as effective as additional open invitation. They should be targeted at women most likely to attend. A randomized study of second timed appointments versus open invitations should be conducted.
