title: Celebrity endorsements of cancer screening.
abstract: Celebrities often promote cancer screening by relating personal anecdotes about their own diagnosis or that of a loved one. We used data obtained from a random-digit dialing survey conducted in the United States from December 2001 through July 2002 to examine the extent to which adults of screening age without a history of cancer had seen or heard or been influenced by celebrity endorsements of screening mammography, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, or sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. The survey response rate was 72% among those known to be eligible and 51% among potentially eligible people accounting for those who could not be contacted. A total of 360 women aged 40 years or older and 140 men aged 50 years or older participated in the survey. Most respondents reported they "had seen or heard a celebrity talk about" mammography (73% of women aged 40 years or older), PSA testing (63% of men aged 50 years or older), or sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy (52% of adults aged 50 years or older). At least one-fourth of respondents who had seen or heard a celebrity endorsement said that the endorsement made them more likely to undergo mammography (25%), PSA testing (31%), or sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy (37%).
authors.affiliation: VA Outcomes Group, Department of Veteran Affairs Medical Center, White River Junction, VT 05009, USA. robin.j.larson@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: Robin J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Larson
authors.forename: Steven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Woloshin
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Schwartz
authors.forename: H Gilbert
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Welch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D003113:Colonoscopy; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D005197:Famous Persons; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008327:Mammography; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen / Q000097:blood; D011471:Prostatic Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control; D012812:Sigmoidoscopy; D014481:United States
chemical_list: D017430:Prostate-Specific Antigen