Repeat Invitations for Bowel Scope Screening Non-Attenders: A RCT
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Repeat invitations for Bowel Scope Screening non-attenders: A three-arm single-centre Randomised Controlled Trial evaluating the effectiveness of repeat invitations to facilitate uptake in previous non-attenders.
IRAS ID
169131
Contact name
Christian Von Wagner
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University College London
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
UCL Data Protection Registration Reference, Z6364106/2014/12/58
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 4 months, 0 days
Research summary
Bowel cancer is a major public health concern in England, one accounting for one in every eight cancer incidences (12.5%) and one in every ten cancer deaths (9.8%). Bowel Scope Screening (BSS), also known as Flexible Sigmoidoscopy (FS) screening, helps prevent bowel cancer by locating and removing small, benign growths called ‘polyps’ from the bowel wall, before they become cancerous. It is estimated that the introduction of BSS in England could save 3,000 lives per annum; however, this is contingent on uptake, which, at present, is scarcely half the invited population. The benefits of increasing uptake are such that, over the lifetime of a screening cohort, spending up to £88 per person to increase the uptake of BSS from 54%, to 70%, would result in an overall cost saving. In the faecal occult blood (FOB) based bowel cancer screening programme, prevalence screening uptake (the proportion of the eligible population completing at least one screening episode) increases with each subsequent round of repeated invitation, from 55% at first invitation, to 63% following two rounds of biennial invitation. At present, no such repeat invitation process exists for the BSS programme. In a previous study, we demonstrated that repeat invitations for BSS were not only feasible, but met a level of efficacy that was worthy of further investigation in a more robust, definitive trial. This proposal is for such a trial. In this study, we will test the effectiveness of repeat invitations to facilitate uptake in people who do not attend their initial BSS appointment. The study will take place at the St Marks Bowel Cancer Screening Centre (St Marks BCSC) in Harrow, over a sixteen month period (January 2015 - May 2016). At the end of the study, the data will be analysed and the results published in a peer reviewed journal.
REC name
North East - Tyne & Wear South Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/NE/0043
Date of REC Opinion
30 Jan 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion