Clinical trial NCT01477814: Interventions to Improve Colon Cancer Screening in Poor Rural Iowa Counties
Official title: Randomized Clinical Trial to Improve Colon Cancer Screening in Poor Rural Iowa Counties
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Colorectal Cancer
Keywords: colorectal cancer
screening
colonoscopy
fecal immunochemical test
clinical guidelines
Lead sponsor: University of Iowa
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: American Cancer Society, Inc.
First posted: 2011-11-23
Enrollment: 743
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 52
Maximum age (years): 79
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: SCREENING

Brief summary: The goal of the study is to conduct a randomized clinical trial to test several office-based strategies for improving colon cancer screening among individuals who are regular patients at 16 family practice physician offices in the state of Iowa. These offices are members of the Iowa Research Network (IRENE), a rural practice-based research network. The interventions to be tested are increasing in intensity from the usual care provided in the office, to physician chart reminders, mailed educational materials to patients, a fecal immunochemical test with postage-paid return envelope, and a telephone call designed to determine attitudes and barriers to screening, and to motivate subjects to get screened. Our main research questions are: 1)do attitudes toward CRC screening change after providing educational materials about CRC screening? 2)do mailed educational materials and a FIT, with or without a telephone reminder, result in increased rates of CRC testing with the FIT?

Detailed description: Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. yet approximately half of eligible adults are not up-to-date with colon cancer screening and the rates of screening are lower among those with lower incomes and who lack insurance. A physician's recommendation for screening has consistently been show to be one of the most powerful predictors of CRC screening. Relatively few studies of CRC screening have been conducted in primary care. Disparities in CRC screening rates are seen in low socioeconomic and rural individuals who often lack resources and access to screening. Most intervention studies have been conducted in managed care settings, community health centers, Veteran's Administration or academic practices. Few studies have looked at interventions in rural medical practices. This research will address screening issues for rural patients and those residing in communities designated as medically underserved. The interventions tested in the study will focus on two key areas: educating the patient about the importance of screening, and reminding the physician about the need to discuss screening during the patient's visit.

The original goal of the study was to enroll 1500 unscreened patients aged 52 to 79 years from 16 family physician practices located in poor, rural Iowa counties. This study will test a combination of patient and physician reminder strategies designed to ensure that the patient is educated about CRC screening and receives a recommendation for CRC screening from their physician. The main outcome is colorectal cancer screening by any of the accepted methods. Rates of screening will be compared across intervention groups. We will also determine how much the interventions cost per person screened.

Patients due for screening within each practice (based on their self-report) (never screened or not up to date with screening) will be randomized to one of four groups that will receive office reminder system strategies of increasing intensity: 1) Usual care, 2) Physician chart reminder alone, 3) Physician chart reminder plus multifaceted mailed patient education, including a postage paid fecal immunochemical test, a reminder magnet, and returnable CRC screening test preference sheet, or 4) Physician chart reminder + multifaceted mailed patient education/FIT/magnet/preference sheet + telephone reminder to encourage screening and address barriers.

Our central hypothesis is that providing offices with one or more CRC screening support systems based on the Chronic Care Model will significantly increase CRC screening rates in comparison with usual care, and that such interventions will be cost-effective and accepted in practice.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* patients not up-to-date with CRC screening guidelines based on their responses to baseline survey
* patients with a positive personal history of CRC

Exclusion Criteria:

* patients with personal history of CRC or inflammatory bowel disease
* patients with a family history of hereditary conditions that put them at high risk for CRC (familial adenomatous polyposis or hereditary, nonpolyposis CRC)
* inability to read and comprehend the Informed Consent or written survey
* patients who are up-to-date with CRC screening guidelines based on their response to the baseline survey

Primary outcomes:
measure: colorectal cancer screening
timeFrame: 15 months
Secondary outcomes:
measure: cost-effectiveness of various strategies for screening
timeFrame: 15 months
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Iowa City
country: United States
facility: Iowa Research Network, University of Iowa
state: Iowa
Study officials:
affiliation: University of Iowa
name: Barcey T Levy, PhD, MD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Levy BT, Xu Y, Daly JM, Ely JW. A randomized controlled trial to improve colon cancer screening in rural family medicine: an Iowa Research Network (IRENE) study. J Am Board Fam Med. 2013 Sep-Oct;26(5):486-97. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2013.05.130041.
citation: Daly JM, Xu Y, Levy BT. Patients whose physicians recommend colonoscopy and those who follow through. J Prim Care Community Health. 2013 Apr 1;4(2):83-94. doi: 10.1177/2150131912464887. Epub 2012 Nov 4.
citation: Levy BT, Daly JM, Xu Y, Ely JW. Mailed fecal immunochemical tests plus educational materials to improve colon cancer screening rates in Iowa Research Network (IRENE) practices. J Am Board Fam Med. 2012 Jan-Feb;25(1):73-82. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2012.01.110055.
citation: Ely JW, Levy BT, Daly J, Xu Y. Patient Beliefs About Colon Cancer Screening. J Cancer Educ. 2016 Mar;31(1):39-46. doi: 10.1007/s13187-015-0792-5.
citation: Daly JM, Xu Y, Ely JW, Levy BT. A randomized colorectal cancer screening intervention trial in the Iowa Research Network (IRENE): study recruitment methods and baseline results. J Am Board Fam Med. 2012 Jan-Feb;25(1):63-72. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2012.01.110054.