Last week, the
Task Force on Community Preventive Services updated the
Guide to Community Preventive Services (
Community Guide) to include information on the effectiveness of client reminders for increasing breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening rates.
Client reminders are written or telephone messages that advise patients when they are due for screening. They may be supplemented by follow-up printed or telephone reminders; information about rationale for, benefits of, and ways to overcome barriers to screening; and/or assistance in scheduling appointments. Client reminders may aim to address the overall target population or can be tailored to reach a specific person based on individual characteristics, desired outcome, or personal assessment.
Based on an updated review of client reminder systems, the Task Force makes no change to its initial recommendation for the use of client reminders to increase screening for breast and cervical cancers based on strong evidence of effectiveness. However, the Task Force has revised its recommendation for client reminders for colorectal screening using fecal occult blood testing to reflect strong evidence of effectiveness. This change was made based on five new studies that illustrated a positive effect of adding client reminders to other screening interventions in combination with studies from the original review that demonstrated that client reminders used alone can increase screening rates.
The
Community Guide is a free resource that can help public health agencies choose programs and policies to improve health and prevent disease in their communities. Visit
www.thecommunityguide.org to access all of the evidence-based findings and recommendations for cancer and 18 other topic areas.