Compliance with referrals from a cancer-screening project

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Preventive Medicine
• Medical Education

Background:

• Family practice residencies offer opportunities to integrate cancer screening into training.
• Federally funded projects can facilitate large-scale cancer screening initiatives.
• Understanding patient compliance is crucial for effective cancer prevention and treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a breast and uterine cancer-screening project within family practice residency training.
• To identify factors influencing patient compliance with referrals for diagnostic follow-up.
• To explore the relationship between screening findings and patient motivation for care.

Main Methods:

• Family practice residents conducted cancer screenings over a 2.5-year period.
• Data collected on patient demographics, screening results, and compliance with referrals.
• Statistical analysis used to identify significant relationships between variables.

Main Results:

• Over 1,800 women were screened, and 12 cancers were detected.
• Compliance with Pap smear referrals was higher for abnormal or concerning findings.
• Compliance with breast cancer follow-up varied, with screening mammography compliance being the lowest.

Conclusions:

• Cancer screening integrated into residency training can identify significant numbers of cancers.
• Patient compliance is influenced by the severity of findings and clinical examination results.
• The health belief model can help explain patient motivation in seeking preventive and curative cancer care.