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Introduction: African Americans are disproportionately affected by mortality risk for colorectal cancer. This study aimed to determine the most effective educational approach of 4 study arms that enhances the likelihood of pursuing subsequent colorectal cancer screening, and to identify the associated factors. Methods: Age-eligible adults (N=2,877) were recruited to participate in a cluster randomized control dissemination and intervention implementation trial titled Educational Program to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening. The project began in May 2012 and ended in March 2017 (the implementation phase lasted 36 months). Educational sessions were conducted through 16 community coalitions that were randomized into 1 of 4 conditions: website access (to facilitator training materials and toolkits) without technical assistance, website access with technical assistance, in-person training (provided by research staff and website access) without technical assistance, and in-person training with technical assistance. A follow-up to determine participant CRC screening was conducted 3 months later. Results: Compared with the website access with technical assistance intervention group, 2 groups, in-person training with technical assistance and without technical assistance, indicated significantly higher odds for obtaining colorectal cancer screening (OR=1.31; 95% CI=1.04, 1.64; p=0.02 and OR=1.35; 95% CI=1.07, 1.71; p=0.01, respectively). Though sociodemographic factors were not significantly associated with pursuing subsequent colorectal cancer screening, the postintervention cancer knowledge increased significantly among the study participants. Conclusions: The importance of in-person interactions, local coalitions, and community contexts may play a key role for successfully increasing colorectal cancer screening rates among African Americans as reflected through this study. The integration of telehealth and use of other virtual technologies to engage the public in research have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and should be assessed to determine their impact on the degree to which in-person interventions are significantly more effective when compared with solely web-assisted ones. Trial registration: The study is registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT01805622.

Background: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) is a severe monogenic disorder, caused by single nucleotide mutations in the hemoglobin (Hb) gene, that is prevalent in malaria endemic regions of the world. Sickle cell trait (SCT) individuals carry only one of the mutated alleles and were shown to be protected against malaria. However, defining the relative contribution of hematological, clinical, and environmental factors to the overall burden of malaria in individuals with hemoglobinopathies such as SCA has been challenging. Methods: We hypothesized that hematological differences, clinical presentations, and self-reported bed net usage among Plasmodium-infected and uninfected individuals may govern overall malaria burden in individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD). We conducted a cross-sectional study in Ghana from 2014 to 2019 and described clinical presentations, hematological characteristics, and bed net use based on a comprehensive questionnaire. Hematological characteristics were compared using a parametric or nonparametric ANOVA, pending if data passed D'Agostino & Pearson normality test. When comparing only two Hb genotypes hematological characteristics a Mann–Whitney U-test were used. Logistic regressions and Chi-squared tests were used to compare questionnaire responses between Hb genotypes. All statistical significance was set at p