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Objective: To determine whether a screening recruitment strategy for first degree relatives of people with colorectal cancer is effective in enabling eligible relatives to request screening from their general practitioner (GP) and to assess acceptability to GPs and patients. Methods: Thirty GPs, from 26 practices, and 303 of their patients aged over 50 who were first degree relatives of a person with colorectal cancer, participated in a randomised controlled trial of a GP-based recruitment strategy, in the Newcastle Area of New South Wales, Australia. Results: The proportion of relatives requesting screening was statistically significantly higher in the intervention group than in the control group (18% compared to 4%, respectively; p=0.01). Conclusions: Interest in the study by GPs was low, however for GPs who were involved, the recruitment strategy did prompt first degree relatives to discuss screening. The strategy may be even more effective when combined with other interventions such as a media campaign. The results may be generalisable to feasibility studies of general population screening for colorectal cancer in Australia. Implications: The results of this work are potentially informative to public health practice in Australia given the ensuing pilot programs of colorectal cancer screening.

Objective: To examine the acceptability of photography as an aid to skin examinations in men over 50 years of age. Methods: A randomised trial of men selected from the electoral roll. All participants were photographed, but only half received their photographs. Skin examinations by GPs at years one and two. Results: 55% of men consented to have photographs taken and 51% did so. 86% of respondents had risk factors for melanoma (compared to 68% of non-responders) and 47% had two or more risk factors (compared to 23% of non-responders). At year one, 91% of participants remaining in study regions had been examined. Photographs were lost by only six participants. Conclusions: Men over 50 years of age respond to parsonalised health messages about melanoma and respondents include a high proportion of males with risk factors for melanoma. Implications: These initial results suggest that photography may be a logistically acceptable approach for assisting in the early detection of melanoma. (Aust N Z J Public Health 2000; 24:615-8)

Use of telephone prompts to improve survey response rates is discussed, with a focus on comparing effectiveness of prompts by a medical researcher versus a nonmedical research assistant. Topics include response rates, number and time of telephone calls, and personnel costs.