title: Knowledge, attitude and practice of mammography among women users of public health services.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Tocoginecologia, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luiz Alberto Barcelos
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Marinho
authors.forename: José Guilherme
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Cecatti
authors.forename: Maria José Duarte
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Osis
authors.forename: Maria Salete Costa
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Gurgel
mesh_terms: 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