Interventions for Increasing Colorectal Cancer Screening Uptake: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.

Patient navigation and mailed FIT outreach significantly increase colorectal cancer screening uptake, especially in populations with low baseline rates, with risk ratios of 1.58 and 1.36 respectively.

• Why it matters: Improving screening rates is crucial to reduce colorectal cancer mortality, yet current interventions vary in effectiveness, and optimal strategies remain unclear, limiting public health impact.
• What they did: A systematic review and network meta-analysis of 76 randomized trials compared eight intervention strategies, assessing their relative effectiveness using risk ratios, P scores, and ranking methods.
• The result: Patient navigation and mailed FIT outreach emerged as the most effective, particularly in low-uptake settings, enabling targeted efforts to improve screening and potentially save lives.