Remote Tailored Interventions Increased Colonoscopy Screening Despite Cost Barriers

the Cancer Therapy Advisor take:

Remote tailored intervention (TeleCARE) was associated with increased colonoscopy uptake among at-risk relatives of patients with colorectal cancer, according to a study published online in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Participants in the study included family members of patients with colorectal cancer who were not up-to-date with colonoscopy screening.  The participants were then randomly assigned to one of two groups:  TeleCARE (N=232) or an educational brochure (N=249).

Results showed that 42.7% of participants in the TeleCARE intent-to-treat analysis had a medically-verified colonoscopy, compared to 24.1% of participants in the educational brochure group (OR = 2.37; 95% CI: 1.59, 3.52).  Cost was identified as a barrier for the majority of both experimental cohorts (TeleCARE=62.5% and educational brochure=57.0%).  Individuals in the TeleCARE group not affected by the cost barrier were four times as likely to have a colonoscopy compared to those in the educational brochure group (OR = 3.66; 95% CI: 1.85, 7.24).

Overall, the participants in the TeleCARE group were almost twice as likely to have a colonoscopy compared to their counterparts (OR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.12, 3.52).

The study suggests that remote interventions could be an effective means of increasing colonoscopy screening regardless of cost barriers.