Over the past five decades, mortality rates from cervical cancer have decreased by approximately 75%. This reduction is largely attributable to the Pap smear and improvements in treatment. Despite this encouraging reduction, certain groups of women have not experienced significant benefits and remain at disproportionate risk of death from cervical cancer. Among these women are those living in rural areas, particularly middle aged and older women who live in rural Appalachia. This population continues to have among the highest cervical cancer mortality rates, and efforts to address this problem have fallen short of their objectives. To reduce the unequal and unnecessary burden from cervical cancer experienced by rural Appalachian women, we propose to undertake a community-based patient navigator (PN) intervention in partnership with local public health departments. In this proposed project we intend to develop, administer, and evaluate a plan for effective utilization of lay health workers as PNs in local health department cervical cancer screening programs.
The aims are: 1) to improve understanding of the barriers to follow-up experienced by women with abnormal Pap test results;2) in conjunction with designated nurse case managers, to recruit, train and utilize lay health workers as PNs in local health departments'cervical cancer screening and follow-up treatment programs;and 3) with extensive input from women who do not follow-up after abnormal results and through the development of a PN program, to increase the proportion of patients who are adherent with recommendations for timely abnormal Pap test follow-up. The project will be conducted in 26 public health departments in rural southeastern Kentucky. A lagged design will be used in which the health departments will be randomized to intervention or delayed intervention groups. A total of 858 patients will be enrolled in the project, 429 in the intervention group and 429 in the delayed intervention group. Patients who do not keep scheduled follow-up appointments for abnormal Pap smear results will be eligible and referred to PNs and enrolled. Assessment will occur in face-to-face interviews at baseline and again at two points after the intervention.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA120606-04
Application #
7825373
Study Section
Community-Level Health Promotion Study Section (CLHP)
Program Officer
Kobrin, Sarah
Project Start
2007-06-01
Project End
2012-04-30
Budget Start
2010-05-01
Budget End
2011-04-30
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$360,785
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Kentucky
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
939017877
City
Lexington
State
KY
Country
United States
Zip Code
40506
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Ely, Gretchen E; White, Carol; Jones, Kate et al. (2014) Cervical cancer screening: exploring Appalachian patients' barriers to follow-up care. Soc Work Health Care 53:83-95
Cohen, Elisia L; Scott, Allison M; White, Carol R et al. (2013) Evaluation of Patient Needs and Patient Navigator Communication about Cervical Cancer Prevention in Appalachian Kentucky. J Commun 63:72-94
Slone, Stacey; White, Carol; Shelton, Brent et al. (2013) Inconsistencies between medical records and patient-reported recommendations for follow-up after abnormal Pap tests. J Womens Health (Larchmt) 22:147-52
Scarinci, Isabel C; Garcia, Francisco A R; Kobetz, Erin et al. (2010) Cervical cancer prevention: new tools and old barriers. Cancer 116:2531-42
Schoenberg, Nancy; Baltisberger, Julie; Bardach, Shoshana et al. (2010) Perspectives on Pap test follow-up care among rural Appalachian women. Women Health 50:580-97