Tailored messages for breast and cervical cancer screening of low-income and minority women using medical records data

Patient Educ Couns. 2003 Jun;50(2):123-32. doi: 10.1016/s0738-3991(02)00119-2.

Abstract

Barriers to screening and early detection often result in cancers in low-income and minority women diagnosed at stages too advanced for optimal treatment. This randomized controlled trial examined whether a personalized form (PF) letter containing generic cancer information and a personalized tailored (PT) letter containing minimally tailored individualized risk factor information based on medical records data affected breast and cervical cancer screening among 1574 urban low-income and minority women. The personalized form-letter group was significantly more likely to schedule a screening appointment and to have undergone a Pap test and mammography within 1 year after the intervention than were the tailored letter and control groups (P<0.001 for all comparisons). Personalized tailored letters that contain individualized cancer risk factor information may decrease the likelihood of receiving cancer screening among medically underserved low-income and minority women, but personalized form letters that contain generic cancer information may improve these rates in this disadvantaged population.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Multicenter Study
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Black or African American / education
  • Black or African American / psychology
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Breast Neoplasms / etiology
  • Correspondence as Topic*
  • Data Collection / methods*
  • Female
  • Health Education / methods*
  • Humans
  • Mass Screening* / methods
  • Mass Screening* / psychology
  • Medical Records*
  • Mexican Americans / education
  • Mexican Americans / psychology
  • Middle Aged
  • Minority Groups / education*
  • Minority Groups / psychology
  • Poverty* / ethnology
  • Risk Assessment
  • Risk Factors
  • Texas
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / etiology
  • White People / education
  • White People / psychology
  • Women / education*
  • Women / psychology