Educational DVD + Patient Navigation Increases Cancer Screenings in Rural Women

MONDAY, May 1, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Tailored interventions delivered remotely may increase needed cancer screenings in rural women, according to a study published online April 28 in JAMA Network Open.

Victoria L. Champion, Ph.D., R.N., from Indiana University in Indianapolis, and colleagues compared the effectiveness of a mailed, tailored digital video disc (DVD) intervention, a DVD intervention plus telephonic patient navigation (DVD/PN), and usual care for increasing adherence to any breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer screening. The analysis included 963 women (aged 50 to 74 years) living in rural areas who were not current on screenings.

The researchers found that the DVD group had nearly twice the odds of those in the usual-care group of obtaining all needed screenings (odds ratio, 1.84), and the odds were nearly six times greater for DVD/PN versus usual care (odds ratio, 5.69). For promoting at least one (any) needed screenings at 12 months, the DVD/PN intervention was significantly more effective than usual care (odds ratio, 4.01). Per woman who was current on screening, cost-effectiveness was $14,462 in the DVD group and $10,638 in the DVD/PN group.

"The effectiveness of these interventions that targeted all or any needed cancer screenings simultaneously offered an approach that can be delivered remotely to rural women and has paved the way to approach preventive health care holistically," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text