Authors' objectives:

This systematic review aims to address the following questions: What is the effectiveness of cancer control interventions (i.e., smoking cessation, healthy diet, mammography, cervical cancer screening, and control of cancer pain) to promote behavior uptake? What strategies have been evaluated to disseminate cancer control interventions?

Authors' results and conclusions: 41 reviews on effectiveness and 31 studies on dissemination and diffusion were included. Studies were not meta-analyzed because of heterogeneity, low methodological quality, and incomplete data reporting. Adult Smoking Cessation: effective smoking cessation interventions included brief advice by a healthcare professional, office prompts, media campaigns, and office reminders combined with physician training with or without patient education. No strong evidence currently exists for effective dissemination studies. Adult Healthy Diet: Effective interventions for promoting a healthy diet included physician education in dietary counselling, tailored interventions, multiple interventions, and provision of multiple contacts and environmental interventions. No beneficial dissemination strategies were found except for the use of peer educators in the worksite, which led to a short-term increase in fruit and vegetable intake. Mammography: Effective interventions included invitations or mailed reminders, office system interventions, and financial barriers interventions. Insufficient evidence exists for the effectiveness of any dissemination strategy. Cervical Cancer Screening: Effective interventions included office systems and invitations and reminders to individuals. Limited evidence supports the effectiveness of educational materials, telephone counseling, removal of financial barriers, media campaigns, and healthcare provider advice. No evidence exists for dissemination strategies. Control of Cancer Pain: Inadequate evidence exists for effective interventions. Dissemination of a treatment algorithm for pain management resulted in a short-term change in provider adherence. Few studies on dissemination exist.

Authors' recommendations: Some cancer control interventions are effective for changing provider or individual behavior. Little research has been done on dissemination strategies.

Authors' methods: Systematic review

Project Status: Completed

URL for project: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/canconsum.pdf

Year Published: 2003

URL for published report: http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epcsums/canconsum.htm

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: United States

Organisation Name: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Contact Address: Center for Outcomes and Evidence Technology Assessment Program, 540 Gaither Road, Rockville, MD 20850, USA. Tel: +1 301 427 1610; Fax: +1 301 427 1639;

Contact Name: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Contact Email: martin.erlichman@ahrq.hhs.gov

Copyright: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)