Clinical trial · Observational
An Observational Study of GP Verbal Reminders Upon Cervical Screening
Three-year Prospective Cohort Study of the Effectiveness of Physician Reminders on Cervical Screening Uptake Amongst Non Responders in a UK Primary Care Setting
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Cervical cancer screening is offered to all women in the United Kingdom (UK) between the ages of 24.5 and 64 years of age. The majority of screening is performed in primary care and the rate remains stubbornly below 80%, despite an automated national invitation system. This study is designed to assess the effectiveness of a physician invitation during a telephone or face-to-face primary care appointment upon non responders of automated invitations, to increase the uptake of cervical screening.
Conditions
Conditions (2)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| HPV-Related Cervical Carcinoma | Human Papillomavirus-Related Cervical Carcinoma | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Physician-Patient Relations | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cervical Screening Reminder | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- label
- Intervention
- description
- The principal investigator reviews the medical notes of all individuals they consult over a period of three years to check if they are non responders. If confirmed as non responder, they receive a three-step verbal intervention: 1. "Your cervical cancer screening is now overdue." 2. "The test is easy to perform and saves thousands of lives from cervical cancer every year." 3. "Should we book an appointment for cervical screening now so that you make sure you have it done?" Those who are seen face-to-face receive a fourth intervention: 4. An appointment slip is given to the patient to hand to the receptionist. This includes the patient's name and the comment, "book an appointment with practice nurse for cervical screening".
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Cervical Screening Reminder
- label
- Control
- description
- The control group receives standard unstructured reminders regarding their overdue status from any of the 6 other clinicians during appointments and / or reminder letters from the administration team.
Primary outcomes (1)
- measure
- Uptake of Cervical Screening
- timeFrame
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- Female
- Minimum age
- 25 Years
- Maximum age
- 65 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Registered patient with a cervix * Non responder to cervical screening invitation Exclusion Criteria: * Incorrectly reminded i. Coding errors ii. Human error * Temporary patients i. Did not remain registered for minimum of 6 months following intervention * Screening refusal * Inappropriate to include i. Terminal illness ii. Prolonged hospitalisation iii. Death due to non-cervical cancer attributable cause
References
Publications (1)
- BACKGROUNDEverett T, Bryant A, Griffin MF, Martin-Hirsch PP, Forbes CA, Jepson RG. Interventions targeted at women to encourage the uptake of cervical screening. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2011 May 11;2011(5):CD002834. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002834.pub2. PMID 21563135