Telephone support can improve cancer screening rates among women who visit community and migrant health centers. The intervention seems to be well suited to health plans, large medical groups, and other organizations that seek to increase cancer screening rates and to address disparities in care.

Background Detection and removal of adenomas and clinically significant serrated polyps is critical to the effectiveness of colonoscopy in preventing colorectal cancer. While longer withdrawal time has been found to increase polyp detection, this association, and the use of withdrawal time as a quality indicator, remains controversial. Few studies have reported on withdrawal time and serrated polyp detection. Using data from the New Hampshire Colonoscopy Registry, we examined how an endoscopist’s withdrawal time in normal colonoscopies affects adenoma and serrated polyp detection. Methods We analyzed 7996 colonoscopies performed in 7972 patients between 2009 and 2011 by 42 endoscopists at 14 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, and community practices. Clinically significant serrated polyps (CSSPs) were defined as sessile serrated polyps and hyperplastic polyps proximal to the sigmoid. Adenoma and CSSP detection rates were calculated based on median endoscopist withdrawal time in normal exams. Regression models were used to estimate the association of increased normal withdrawal time and polyp, adenoma, and CSSP detection. Results Polyp and adenoma detection rates were highest among endoscopists with 9 minute median normal withdrawal time, while detection of CSSPs reached its highest levels at 8 to 9 minutes. Incident rate ratios for adenoma and CSSP detection increased with each minute of normal withdrawal time above 6 minutes, with maximum benefit at 9 minutes for adenomas (1.50, 95% CI (1.21,1.85)) and CSSPs (1.77, 95% CI (1.15, 2.72)). When modeling was used to set the minimum withdrawal time at 9 minutes, we predicted that adenomas and CSSPs would be detected in 302 (3.8%) and 191 (2.4%) more patients. The increase in detection was most striking for the CSSPs, with nearly a 30% relative increase. Conclusions A withdrawal time of 9 minutes resulted in a statistically significant increase in adenoma and serrated polyp detection. Colonoscopy quality may improve with a median normal withdrawal time benchmark of 9 minutes.