THE IMPACT OF CANCER SCREENING PROMOTION BY RURAL HOSPITALS ON CANCER-DETECTION

Hospitals almost universally provide health promotion programs for community residents. There is a lack of evidence regarding these programs' impact on the detection or prevention of disease. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether rural hospital-based health promotion programs for cancer screening were associated with detection of greater numbers of cancer cases in the communities served by the hospitals over the years that the promotion programs were offered. Data were collected from a survey of 95 rural Iowa hospitals and from state health registry data on 1985-1990 cancer occurrence. Breast and colon cancer screening promotion programs were related to detection of greater numbers of cases, after controlling for population, age and sex. These findings often held for both less advanced and more advanced cancer stages. Promotion of cervical cancer screening was not related to number of cervical cancers detected. The finding that the relationship between screening promotion and cancer detection persists irrespective of stage may have important policy and programmatic implications.