Kylie Minogue's breast cancer: effects on referrals to a rapid access breast clinic in the UK.
We examine the effect of the announcement of Kylie's breast cancer on referrals to a rapid access breast clinic in the United Kingdom. General practitioner referrals were examined, concentrating on June 2005; the month following Kylie's diagnosis. Time series analysis with autoregressive integrated moving average modeling was used to forecast data. There was a significant increase in referrals and radiographic investigations, with no increase in the number of malignant diagnoses. It is encouraging that media campaigns appear to make women more 'breast aware;' however there may also be a detrimental effect with increased radiation exposure, anxiety and cancer phobia.
Twine
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Breast Unit, Department of General Surgery, Royal Gwent Hospital, Cardiff road, Newport, South Wales NP20 2UB, UK. chris_twine@hotmail.com
Barthelmes
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Gateley
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CA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D019983:Guideline Adherence; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D008402:Mass Media; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013222:State Medicine; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology; D014850:Waiting Lists