Efficacy of patient letter reminders on cervical cancer screening
Journal of General Internal MedicinePublished 1 August 2001Open access
Daniel S. Tseng, Elizabeth Cox, Mary Beth Plane, Khin Mae Hla
Citations69
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.99
SNIP1.71
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TL;DR
A meta-analysis on existing randomized controlled trials to investigate the efficacy of patient letter reminders on increasing cervical cancer screening using Pap smears found that patient letters reminders have less efficacy in lower socioeconomic groups.
Abstract
Patient reminders in the form of mailed letters increase the rate of cervical cancer screening. Patient letter reminders have less efficacy in lower socioeconomic groups.
Keywords
MedicineBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
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