title: Attendance and non-attendance for breast screening at the south east London breast screening service.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To ascertain the reasons for a low rate of response for breast screening.
  
  
  METHODS
  All relevant aspects of the organisational process examined, including general practitioners' notes. Non-responders visited and interviewed.
  
  
  METHODS
  An inner city breast screening service working on the model advocated by the Forrest report.
  
  
  METHODS
  288 Women aged 50-64 registered with several general practices and invited for screening by post.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Determination of factors important for success of breast screening programmes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After five women were excluded by their general practitioners the response rate was 129 out of 283 (46%), but 99 (35%) of the women did not receive their invitations because of inaccuracies in the family practitioner committee's database and general practitioners failing to check women's addresses completely.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increased rates of response will depend on enabling general practitioners to check addresses and on an increased awareness of the importance of information.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, London.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: McEwen
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bickler
mesh_terms: D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008131:London; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D012111:Residence Characteristics