Adherence to colorectal cancer screening: Four rounds of faecal immunochemical test-based screening
Access Status
Authors
Date
2017Type
Metadata
Show full item recordCitation
Source Title
ISSN
Collection
Abstract
Background:The effectiveness of faecal immunochemical test (FIT)-based screening programs is highly dependent on consistent participation over multiple rounds. We evaluated adherence to FIT screening over four rounds and aimed to identify determinants of participation behaviour.Methods:A total of 23 339 randomly selected asymptomatic persons aged 50-74 years were invited for biennial FIT-based colorectal cancer screening between 2006 and 2014. All were invited for every consecutive round, except for those who had moved out of the area, passed the upper age limit, or had tested positive in a previous screening round. A reminder letter was sent to non-responders. We calculated participation rates per round, response rates to a reminder letter, and differences in participation between subgroups defined by age, sex, and socioeconomic status (SES).Results:Over the four rounds, participation rates increased significantly, from 60% (95% CI 60-61), 60% (95% CI 59-60), 62% (95% CI 61-63) to 63% (95% CI 62-64; P for trend<0.001) with significantly higher participation rates in women in all rounds (P<0.001). Of the 17 312 invitees eligible for at least two rounds of FIT screening, 12 455 (72%) participated at least once, whereas 4857 (28%) never participated; 8271 (48%) attended all rounds when eligible. Consistent participation was associated with older age, female sex, and higher SES. Offering a reminder letter after the initial invite in the first round increased uptake with 12%; in subsequent screening rounds this resulted in an additional uptake of up to 10%.Conclusions:In four rounds of a pilot biennial FIT-screening program, we observed a consistently high and increasing participation rate, whereas sending reminders remain effective. The substantial proportion of inconsistent participants suggests the existence of incidental barriers to participation, which, if possible, should be identified and removed.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Haug, U.; Grobbee, E.; Lansdorp-Vogelaar, Iris; Spaander, M.; Kuipers, E. (2016)Objective: Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening programmes based on faecal immunochemical testing for haemoglobin (FIT) typically use a screening interval of 2 years. We aimed to estimate how alternative FIT strategies that ...
-
Van Der Meulen, M.; Lansdorp_Vogelaar, Iris; Van Heijningen, E.; Kuipers, E.; Van Ballegooijen, M. (2016)Background: If some adenomas do not bleed over several years, they will cause systematic false-negative fecal immunochemical test (FIT) results. The long-term effectiveness of FIT screening has been estimated without ...
-
Kapidzic, A.; van der Meulen, M.; Hol, L.; van Roon, A.; Looman, C.; Lansdorp_Vogelaar, Iris; van Ballegooijen, M.; van Vuuren, A.; Reijerink, J.; van Leerdam, M.; Kuipers, E. (2015)Background & Aims: Fecal immunochemical tests (FITs) are used widely in colorectal cancer screening. Programs use the same fecal hemoglobin threshold for colonoscopy referral for men and women, but it is unclear whether ...