Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30092768›Full record

Trial reportBMC public health2018

Promoting prompt help-seeking for symptoms - assessing the impact of a gynaecological cancer leaflet on presentations to primary care: a record-based randomised control trial.

Jackie Campbell, Kirty Vaghela, Stephen Rogers, Michelle Pyer, Alice Simon, Jo Waller

Open access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC public health, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.1field-weighted citation impact, top 49% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Jackie CampbellFaculty of Health and Society, University of Northampton, Northampton, NN2 7AL, UK. jackie.campbell@northampton.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-1456-7994
Kirty VaghelaSandy Close, Wellingborough, NN8 5AY, UK.
Stephen RogersDepartment of Health Sciences, University of Leicester, 22-28 Princess Road West, Leicester, LE1 6TP, UK.
Michelle PyerFaculty of Health and Society, University of Northampton, Northampton, NN2 7AL, UK.
Alice SimonCentre for Implementation Science, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London, 16 De Crespigny Park, Camberwell, London, SE5 8AF, UK.
Jo WallerDepartment of Behavioural Science and Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, London, WC1E 6BT, UK.
University of Northampton · GBKing's College London · GBUniversity College London · GBUniversity of Leicester · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInformation leaflets have been shown to significantly improve awareness of the symptoms of gynaecological cancers and to reduce perceived barriers to seeking medical help. This record-based, parallel, randomised control trial study aimed to assess whether receipt of a leaflet would change the behaviour of women experiencing symptoms indicative of gynaecological cancers by prompting them to visit their general practitioner (GP).

methods15,538 women aged 40 years or over registered with five general practices in Northamptonshire, UK were randomised to two groups using the SystmOne randomise facility. Those in the intervention group received an educational leaflet from their general practice explaining the symptoms of gynaecological cancers and advising symptomatic women to visit their GP. The control group were not contacted. Electronic records were interrogated to extract sociodemographic data and details of GP consultations for symptoms, tests, referrals and diagnoses relating to gynaecological cancers in the 4-month period following the mail-out of the leaflets.

results7739 records were extracted from the intervention group and 7799 from the control group. 231 (3.0%) of the women in the intervention group, and 207 (2.7%) of the controls, presented to their GP with a relevant symptom during the 4-month period following leaflet distribution. The slightly higher rate in the intervention group did not reach statistical significance at the 5% level (RR = 1.11; 95% CI 0.92-1.33; z = 1.08; p = 0.28). There was a significantly lower mean time to first presentation in the symptomatic intervention group (57.2 days, sd = 36.5) compared to the control group (65.2 days, sd = 35.0) (t = - 2.415; p = 0.016). Survival analysis did not reveal a difference between the patterns of presentation in the two cohorts (Log Rank (Mantel-Cox) χ

conclusionThere was no difference between intervention and control groups in the proportion of women presenting with symptoms identified in the leaflet in the four months following leaflet distribution, although the women who had been sent a leaflet presented earlier than those in the control group. A larger study is needed to test for a modest effect of leaflet distribution.

trial registrationListed on the ISRCTN registry with study ID ISRCTN61738692 on 23-8-2017 (retrospectively registered).

Indexed as

AdultFemaleGenital Neoplasms, FemaleHealth PromotionHumansMiddle AgedPamphletsPatient Acceptance of Health CarePrimary Health CareReferral and ConsultationCancerGeneral practiceGynaecologicalPatient educationPublic health

Identifiers

PMID30092768
PMCPMC6085674
OpenAlexW2887359883

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.