Longitudinal Adherence to Fecal Occult Blood Testing Impacts Colorectal Cancer Screening Quality

Abstract

Adherence to repeated FOBT is low, suggesting that cross-sectional measurements of quality may overestimate the programmatic success of CRC screening.

Advancing the evaluation of cervical cancer screening: development and application of a longitudinal adherence metric

“…Other studies have evaluated longitudinal adherence to other, non-CC screening programmes over time (18)(19)(20), but did not consider multiple levels of underscreening, over-screening, nor the ability to differentiate cancer outcomes. We found that longitudinal adherence was lower than cross-sectional adherence within the last screening round; similar results were found for cervical, colorectal, and breast cancer screening elsewhere (17,21,22), suggesting that attendance over multiple screening rounds more accurately reflects screening performance.…”

Immunochemical faecal occult blood testing to screen for colorectal cancer: can the screening interval be extended?

“…This may occur when there is no or a suboptimal invitation system, as it is often the case in countries with a decentralised health system. For example, a retrospective cohort analysis from the USA evaluating adherence to repeated yearly FOBT showed that among 395 000 subjects who received exclusively FOBT and no other screening tool, about 40% were tested only once during a 5-year study period 15. If strategies with a longer screening interval are used, the design needs to make sure that non-participants are reinvited after a reasonable time frame and not several years later when invitation to the next screening round is due.…”

Longitudinal predictors of colorectal cancer screening among participants in a randomized controlled trial

“…Although a number of trials to evaluate the efficacy of CRCS have reported rates of repeat screening (Hardcastle et al, 1986, 1989, 1996; Mandel et al, 1999), very few studies have examined psychosocial predictors of regular screening. Studies of repeat FOBT conducted in community settings report completion rates between 14 and 54% among persons who had previously completed an FOBT on schedule (Fenton et al, 2010; Gellad et al, 2011; Liss et al, 2013; Myers et al, 1993). Receipt of a prior preventive health examination, younger age, lesser comorbidity, and a greater number of physician visits were significantly associated with repeat CRCS (Fenton et al, 2010; Liss et al, 2013; Myers et al, 1993).…”