Randomized Controlled Trial of Advance Notification Phone Calls vs Text Messages Prior to Mailed Fecal Test Outreach

Gloria D Coronado, Denis B Nyongesa, Amanda F Petrik, Jamie H Thompson, Anne L Escaron, Brittany Younger, Shelby Harbison, Michael C Leo, Gloria D Coronado, Denis B Nyongesa, Amanda F Petrik, Jamie H Thompson, Anne L Escaron, Brittany Younger, Shelby Harbison, Michael C Leo

Abstract

Background & aims: Mailing fecal immunochemical test (FITs) to individuals who are due for screening (mailed FIT outreach) increases colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Little is known about how phone-based advance notifications (primers) affect the effectiveness of mailed FIT outreach programs.

Methods: We performed a prospective study of patients at a large urban health center, 50-75 years old and due for screening, with no record of a prior FIT. Participants were randomly assigned to groups that received a live phone call primer (n = 1203) or a text message primer (n = 1622), from June through December 2018. The participants were then mailed a FIT kit, followed by 2 automated calls, and live reminder calls delivered by the care team. The main outcome was completion of FIT within 3 months of assignment to the live phone call or text message group.

Results: Participants had a FIT completion rate of 16.8%, a mean age of 58 years, and 80% were Latino. In adjusted intention to treat analyses (n = 2825), FIT completion rates were higher in the patients assigned to receive a live phone call vs text message primer (percentage point difference, 3.3%; 95% CI, 0.4%-6.2%). Between-group differences increased to 7.3% points (95% CI, 3.6%-11.0%) in the per-protocol analysis of 2144 participants reached by the text message (1320/1622, 81%), live call (438/1203, 36%), or voice message (386/1203, 32%). This rate increased to 14.9% points (95% CI; 9.6%-20.1%) in the per-protocol analysis of 1758 participants reached by the text message or reached by the live call.

Conclusions: In a randomized trial, advance notification live phone calls outperformed text messages in prompting health center patients who had not previously completed a FIT to complete a mailed FIT. Clinicaltrials.gov no: NCT03167125.

Keywords: Adherence; Colon Cancer; Fecal Testing; Prevention.

Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest

This author discloses the following: Dr Coronado served as the Principal Investigator on an industry funded study awarded to the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research to compare the clinical performance of an investigational FIT to an FDA-approved FIT. The study was funded by Quidel Corporation. The remaining authors disclose no conflicts.

Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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Source: PubMed

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