Intrinsic religiousness as a mediator between fatalism and cancer-specific fear: clarifying the role of fear in prostate cancer screening.

Understanding factors that influence screening receptivity may enhance African-American men's receptivity to prostate cancer screening. Men of African descent (N = 481) between the ages of 40 and 70 were recruited. The hypotheses that Fatalism would be related to Intrinsic Religiousness and Fear, Intrinsic Religiousness would act as a mediator between Fatalism and Fear, and Fatalism as well as Prostate Cancer-Specific Fear would be negatively related to past Prostate-Specific Antigen Testing and Screening Intent were supported.

Long-term results from a randomized controlled trial to increase cancer screening among attendees of community health centers.

Purpose: We assessed whether increased cancer screening rates that were observed with Cancer Screening Office Systems (Cancer SOS) could be maintained at 24 months' follow-up, a period in which clinics were expected to be largely self-sufficient in maintaining the intervention.

Methods: Eight primary care clinics serving disadvantaged populations in Hills-borough County, Fla, agreed to take part in a cluster-randomized experimental trial. Charts of independent samples of established patients aged 50 to 75 years were abstracted, with data collected at baseline (n = 1,196) and at 24 months' follow-up (n = 1,296).

A randomized controlled trial to increase cancer screening among attendees of community health centers.

Background: We assessed the efficacy of the Cancer Screening Office Systems (Cancer SOS), an intervention designed to increase cancer screening in primary care settings serving disadvantaged populations.

Methods: Eight primary care clinics participating in a county-funded health insurance plan in Hillsborough County, Fla, agreed to take part in a cluster-randomized experimental trial. The Cancer SOS had 2 components: a cancer-screening checklist with chart stickers that indicated whether specific cancer-screening tests were due, ordered, or completed; and a division of office responsibilities to achieve high screening rates.

Colorectal cancer screening among a sample of community health center attendees.

To determine the rate of colorectal cancer screening in patients attending a sample of community health centers, medical records of 1,176 patients from eight community health centers were abstracted. Among the patients studied, 43.8% of patients had undergone at least one of the three colorectal screening tests (fecal occult blood test, colonoscopy, or flexible sigmoidoscopy) in the recommended interval.

Cost-effectiveness of an intervention to increase cancer screening in primary care settings.

Background: The main goal was to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis of an intervention designed to increase cancer screening rates in primary care settings serving disadvantaged populations. The Cancer Screening Office Systems intervention reminded clinicians whether screening mammography, Pap smears, and/or fecal occult blood tests were up-to-date in eligible patients and then established a division of office responsibilities to ensure that tests were ordered and completed.

Methods: The cost-effectiveness analysis was predicated on data generated from a cluster-randomized controlled trial of Cancer Screening Office Systems conducted at eight clinics participating in a county-funded health insurance plan in Florida.