Telephone Reminders Improve Fecal Immunochemical Test Return Rates

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Preventive Medicine
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Screening fecal immunochemical tests (FIT) are crucial for colorectal cancer detection.
• Low FIT return rates can hinder the effectiveness of screening programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a structured telephone reminder system on FIT completion rates.
• To compare FIT return rates between patients who received a reminder and those who did not.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study design was employed.
• Patients received a telephone reminder after 14 days if FITs were not returned.
• FIT return rates were tracked and compared between the intervention and control groups.

Main Results:

• A significantly higher return rate was observed in the group receiving telephone reminders.
• Automated FIT tracking systems missed a notable proportion of returned tests compared to manual tracking.

Conclusions:

• Telephone reminders are an effective strategy to enhance FIT return rates.
• Improving FIT tracking processes is essential for accurate program evaluation.