Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT) Outreach Shown to Increase CRC Screening Compliance

The growth of the telehealth market has highlighted a need for alternative remote outreach methods to reach individuals for preventive/wellness screens. Unlike some other screening tools, such as colonoscopy, fecal immunochemical test (FIT) can be conducted by the person at home and has become an attractive option during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous studies regarding outreach and FIT testing focused on short-term metrics, such as a one-time intervention and limited follow-up. These studies also did not account for FIT compliance before the studies, which can be a strong predictor of one-time FIT compliance. 

In a recent multiyear, randomized study published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, researchers looked at FIT outreach outcomes. The study included 10,771 patients from eight San Francisco Health Network clinics, aged 50-75 years, who were not up-to-date (UTD) with colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Patients were first stratified by the clinic, gender, race/ethnicity, and FIT history and then randomly assigned to one group. The two groups were: outreach intervention and usual care. The outreach group received a mailed postcard and a phone call, followed by a FIT kit sent to the patient’s home. Patients who did not return the FIT kit after two weeks received two reminder calls. Usual care was left for the participating clinics to decide, including reminder calls, educational material, and coaching. 

Follow-ups for participants went up to 2.5 years unless the patient:

• Was lost to follow-up 
• Was 365 days out after an abnormal FIT result 
• Had gotten a colonoscopy 
• Had turned 76 
• Had died 

At the end of the study, the cumulative proportion of patients with FIT completion in the outreach group was 73.2%, versus 55.1% in the usual care group. Patients who had previously done a FIT were more likely to complete FIT through mailed outreach. Outreach also increased FIT completion in patients who had not previously done one. However, the second cycle of mailed outreach did not increase completion in those who had not done so in the first cycle. Patients assigned to outreach were also more likely to be consistently adherent (2 of 2 FIT completed) versus intermittently (1 of 2) or non-adherent (0 of 2). The outreach group also had significantly more abnormal FIT results than the usual care group. As a result, more colonoscopies were also conducted in the outreach groups.

Overall, the study’s findings show that the outreach group had more benefits and compliance for FIT than the usual care group. Although there was no significant difference in CRC cases between the two groups, the outreach group did have more abnormal FIT results, leading to earlier detection and decreasing CRC risk over time. 

Limitations to the study included the use of safety-net populations, who are more likely to have changes in contact information, which could impact overall outreach. Stool-based option successes also require adherence to both FIT and colonoscopy follow-ups for abnormal results. However, the authors did not evaluate compliance with colonoscopy follow-ups in this study. While there was an overall increase in CRC screenings from FIT outreach, more research can be done on how other metrics impact the results. In the meantime, outreach and FIT are beneficial in the current telehealth era that we are in.