Breast screening compliance following a statewide low-cost mammography project.
Public health educational campaigns can attract large numbers of one-time participants, but the impact on subsequent behavior remains unstudied. The American Cancer Society Texas Division, Inc. sponsored a statewide $50.00 mammography screening project in early 1987. More than 64,000 mammograms were completed at 306 centers; 37,000 screenees answered a 31-item questionnaire. Attitudes toward screening were assessed, and screening history was recorded. Eighteen months after the project, a follow-up questionnaire was sent to 1000 screenees; 411 women returned the questionnaires. In the year following the project, 51% of the women 50 years and older reported having a subsequent mammogram. Among the women in this group who had never had a mammogram prior to 1987, 42% had screening mammography repeated in the following year. These data show that media-based public education projects can be effective mechanisms for improving and maintaining compliance with mammography screening recommendations.
Vogel
V G
VG
Department of Medical Oncology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston 77030.
Graves
D S
DS
Coody
D K
DK
Winn
R J
RJ
Peters
G N
GN
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003363:Cost Control; D005260:Female; D006293:Health Promotion; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000191:economics; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000191:economics; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D013781:Texas