The Cancer Information Service (CIS) is one of the principal community outreach activities of the National Cancer Institute's Office of Cancer Communications (OCC) for disseminating information about cancer to the public. Although the OCC engages in periodic promotion campaigns which utilize the CIS, the CIS has rarely (if ever) been used to promote cancer control behaviors unrelated to the specific request of the caller. In the proposed study, we will use the CIS to promote breast cancer screening among female callers--regardless of the caller's initial reason or motivation for calling the CIS. A second feature of the proposed study involves using the CIS to reinforce specific cancer control behaviors recommended by the CIS counselors. There are no established protocols within the CIS to follow-up and reinforce specific behaviors recommended to the callers. In the proposed study we will test the effects of a two- week followup interview designed to reinforce and encourage adherence to specific behavioral recommendations made by the CIS counselors. A randomized experimental design (N=3000) will be used to test both intervention strategies, and will include the following three groups: (1) Standard practice/control condition in which information and recommendations about mammography are disseminated upon request. (2) Active promotion of mammography to all eligible female callers 50+ years of age -- irrespective of the caller's initial reason for calling the CIS. (3) Active promotion of mammography among eligible female callers 50+ years of age (same as Group II), plus a two week reinforcement interview. The success of this intervention will be determined using as outcome measures both self-reported utilization of mammography services and, among a subset of callers, audits of billing records at participating mammography facilities. The hypothesis to be tested is that the proposed intervention will increase rates of mammography screening by 30-50% when compared to the control condition.
| Marcus, A C; Bastani, R; Reardon, K et al. (1993) Proactive screening mammography counseling within the Cancer Information Service: results from a randomized trial. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr :119-29 |
