
“I think it’s essential that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”
This study interviewed people in the North East of England who had not responded to their invitation to take part in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme.
Screening means looking for early signs of a particular disease in people who do not have symptoms. If you are in the age range for the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme, you receive a letter asking if you would like to take part. This comes with a booklet about the programme, and a kit to collect a very small amount of stool (faeces), which you send back in a hygienic envelope.
Researchers believe there could be 20,000 fewer deaths from bowel cancer over the next 20 years if 6 out of every 10 people (60%) took this test. But the number actually taking the test is lower than this. And we know that men, younger people, those from the Indian subcontinent and people living in less wealthy areas are less likely to take part in bowel cancer screening.
In this study, researchers talked to people who had not returned their screening kit, to try to understand why this is.
The aims of this study were to
The researchers collected information on why people had not responded to their Bowel Cancer Screening Programme invitation. They found that there were a lot of reasons why this happens.
The study team invited people who had not taken part in screening to join the study. Most of these were registered with GP surgeries in low income areas. 59 people agreed to take part. Of those,
The main reasons people gave for not yet taking part in screening were that they
The researchers found that
The study team looked at all the information collected. They suggest encouraging people to take part by
The researchers concluded that there were a lot of reasons why people did not take part in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme. But in most cases it wasn’t because people had a negative attitude towards screening, or had decided not to return the kit.
We have based this summary on information from the team who ran the trial. The information they sent us has been reviewed by independent specialists () and published in a medical journal. The figures we quote above were provided by the trial team. We have not analysed the data ourselves.
Please note: In order to join a trial you will need to discuss it with your doctor, unless otherwise specified.
Professor G Rubin
Durham University
NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme
NIHR Clinical Research Network: Cancer
NIHR Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme
Primary Care Research Networks
South Tyneside Foundation Trust
University College London (UCL)
University of Edinburgh
If you have questions about the trial please contact our cancer information nurses
Freephone 0808 800 4040
“I think it’s essential that people keep signing up to these type of trials to push research forward.”