The effect of an organized, nationwide breast cancer screening programme on non-organized mammography activities.
OBJECTIVE
To analyse the effect of an organized, nationwide breast cancer screening programme on non-organized mammography activities in Hungary.


METHODS
The nationwide dataset of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration covering the years 2000-2005.


METHODS
Data derived from the nationwide database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration. The study includes all women undergoing mammography before (2000-2001) and after (2002-2003/2004-2005) the introduction of organized screening.


RESULTS
The number of women having non-organized (opportunistic/diagnostic) mammograms was around 250,000 in 2000-2001, but increased to 350,000 in 2005. In the age group 45-64 years in 2000-2001, only 27.4% of all women undergoing mammography were examined within locally-organized programmes. After the introduction of the nationwide programme, this percentage increased to 61.0% in 2002-2003, and 56.3% in 2004-2005. After the introduction of the nationwide organized programme (2002-2003), the proportion of organized screening mammographies remained among the highest in county Hajdú-Bihar (78.4%) and Zala (88.3%) and increased significantly in county Vas (87.7%).


CONCLUSIONS
The introduction of an organized nationwide screening programme in Hungary resulted in increases in the number of screening mammographies, and also of non-organized mammographies. Although the ratio of organized screening versus non-organized mammography changed in favour of screening mammographies, there are large within-country differences between counties.
Boncz
Imre
I
Department of Health Economics, Policy and Management, University of Pécs, Vörösmarty út 4, Pécs, Hungary. imre.boncz@etk.pte.hu
Sebestyén
Andor
A
Pintér
István
I
Battyány
István
I
Ember
István
I
D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006814:Hungary; D008327:Mammography; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged