Increasing uptake of colorectal cancer screening

doi:10.1136/bmj.a2658

Published 8 January 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.a2658
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;338:a2658

Editorials

Increasing uptake of colorectal cancer screening

New approaches hold promise in motivating the 50% of peoplewho do not attend

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Colorectal cancer is a leading cause of mortality in developedcountries,¹ ² yet uptake of screening for this cancer is lowerthan for other mass cancer screening interventions.³ Globallyonly about half of the eligible population undergoes colorectalcancer screening after prompts such as mail or telephone invitations,doctors’ recommendations during visits, and mass mediacampaigns.⁴ ⁵ Thus, finding effective, feasible ways to motivatethe other half of the population to undergo screening is animportant priority for public health worldwide. The study byHoff and colleagues (doi:10.1136/bmj.a2794) looked at one promisingapproach.⁶

The authors used data from 12 960 people in the Norwegian ColorectalCancer Prevention Trial 1 to investigate associations betweenthe uptake of screening (flexible sigmoidoscopy alone or combinedwith faecal occult blood testing) and the timing of mailed invitationsto screening appointments scheduled for six to seven weeks afterthe date of mailing.⁶ They found that . . . [Full text of this article]

Anthony Jerant, associate professor

¹ Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of California Davis School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA 95817, USA

afjerant@ucdavis.edu

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