title: Recruitment activities and sociodemographic factors that predict attendance at a mammographic screening program.
abstract: A random sample of 2266 women aged 50 to 69 years was used to investigate factors that predict attendance at a free Australian mammographic screening program. The most important predictor was receipt of a personal invitation letter. A letter that included an appointment time increased attendance 132-fold initially and decreased to 20 times baseline after 14 days. A letter that did not include an appointment time increased attendance 12-fold, and a second letter to nonattenders increased attendance approximately 13-fold. Attendance declined with increasing distance from the program and with increases in the percentage of non-English speaking women in a neighborhood, but was higher in areas of higher socioeconomic status.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle.
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Hurley
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Huggins
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Jolley
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reading
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001071:Appointments and Schedules; D003142:Communication; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014739:Victoria