Preliminary results of a general practice based call system for cervical cancer screening in The Netherlands

A study was undertaken in Nijmegen, in the Netherlands, to compare the attendance rate following a call system for cervical cancer screening organized by general practitioners, with the attendance rate resulting from the Dutch national call system. Women are invited for screening on a three yearly basis and in 1990 1616 women were identified by nine practices as being in the appropriate age group (35 to 54 years) to attend for cervical cancer screening while 10,387 women were identified by the national call system. The attendance rate among the 1101 women in the rural general practices was 58%, compared with 49% of 4154 women in the matched group receiving an invitation from the national call system. The attendance rate among the 515 women in the urban general practices was 55%, compared with 41% of 6233 women in the matched group receiving an invitation from the national call system. Invitations from general practitioners resulted in similar percentages of women in all age groups attending for screening. Four general practices sent a reminder letter or made a telephone call to non-attenders. A reminder increased the attendance rate from 58% to 70%. It is concluded that a general practice based call system for cervical screening produces a higher attendance rate than the national call system.