PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Richard G. Roetzheim
AU  - Lisa K. Christman
AU  - Paul B. Jacobsen
AU  - Jennifer Schroeder
AU  - Rania Abdulla
AU  - Seft Hunter
TI  - Long-term Results From a Randomized Controlled Trial to Increase Cancer Screening Among Attendees of Community Health Centers
AID  - 10.1370/afm.240
DP  - 2005 Mar 01
TA  - The Annals of Family Medicine
PG  - 109--114
VI  - 3
IP  - 2
4099  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/3/2/109.short
4100  - http://www.annfammed.org/content/3/2/109.full
SO  - Ann Fam Med2005 Mar 01; 3
AB  - PURPOSE We assessed whether increased cancer screening rates that were observed with Cancer Screening Office Systems (Cancer SOS) could be maintained at 24 months’ follow-up, a period in which clinics were expected to be largely self-sufficient in maintaining the intervention. METHODS Eight primary care clinics serving disadvantaged populations in Hills-borough County, Fla, agreed to take part in a cluster-randomized experimental trial. Charts of independent samples of established patients aged 50 to 75 years were abstracted, with data collected at baseline (n = 1,196) and at 24 months’ follow-up (n = 1,296). Papanicolaou (Pap) smears, mammography, and fecal occult blood testing were assessed. RESULTS At 24 months of follow-up, intervention patients had received a greater number of cancer screening tests (mean 1.17 tests vs 0.94 tests, t test = 4.42, P <.0001). In multivariate analysis that controlled for baseline screening rates, secular trends, and other patient and clinic characteristics, the intervention increased the odds of mammograms slightly (odds ratio [OR]) = 1.26; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02–1.55; P = .03) but had no effect on fecal occult blood tests (OR = 1.17; 95% CI, 0.92–1.48; P =0.19) or Pap smears (OR = 0.88; 95% CI, 0.0.68–1.15; P = .34). CONCLUSIONS The Cancer SOS intervention had persistent, although modest, effects on screening at 24 months’ follow-up, an effect that had clearly diminished from results reported at 12 months’ follow-up. Further study is needed to develop successful intervention strategies that are either self-sustaining or that are able to produce long-term changes in screening behavior.