Knowledge, attitude and practice of mammography among women users of public health services.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice related to mammography among women users of local health services, identifying barriers to its performance.


METHODS
A total of 663 women were interviewed at 13 local health centers in a city of Southeastern Brazil, in 2001. Interviewees were randomly selected at each center and they were representative from different socioeconomic conditions. The number of interviewees at each center was proportional to monthly mean appointments. For data analysis, answers were described as knowledge, attitude, practice and their respective adequacies and then they were correlated with control variables through the chi-square test.


RESULTS
Only 7.4% of the interviewees had adequate knowledge on mammography, while 97.1% of women had an adequate attitude. The same was seen for the practice of mammography that was adequate in 35.7% of the cases. The main barrier to mammography was lack of referral by physicians working at the health center (81.8%). There was an association between adequacy of attitude and five years or more of education and being married. There was also an association between adequacy of mammography practice and being employed and family income up to four minimum wages.


CONCLUSIONS
Women users of local health services had no adequate knowledge and practice related to mammography despite having an adequate attitude about this exam.
Marinho
Luiz Alberto Barcelos
LA
Departamento de Tocoginecologia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Cecatti
José Guilherme
JG
Osis
Maria José Duarte
MJ
Gurgel
Maria Salete Costa
MS
D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008327:Mammography / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D017150:Public Sector; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors