Colorectal Cancer News

Telephone Reminders Encourage Colon Cancer Screenings

A new study has shown that automated telephone reminders can increase colon cancer screening rates by 30 percent.

Almost 6,000 Kaiser Permanente members who were overdue for a colorectal cancer screening participated in the study. Almost 3,000 members received up to three reminder calls that stressed the necessity of screenings and offered an at-home kit. The study showed that about 23 percent of those who received the calls asked for and completed an at-home test, compared to 16 percent who did not get called.

“If everyone who is eligible for screening received reminder calls through a program like this one, we could screen millions of additional people,” said David Mosen, Ph.D., M.P.H., and lead author of the study. “Because the calls are automated, they can be delivered to large numbers of people in a short period of time.”

References
Health Day. Telephone Reminders Encourage Colon Cancer Screenings. Bloomberg Businessweek. 2010 June 24.

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