title: A brief intervention designed to increase breast cancer self-screening.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the efficacy of an intervention designed to increase appropriate use of breast self-examination (BSE).
  
  
  METHODS
  Two-armed randomized clinical trial of cancer-control interventions in women that compared a BSE intervention program to a dietary intervention, which served as the control group. The study was conducted at a large health maintenance organization in Portland, Oregon. Participants were 616 female members of the health maintenance organization who were aged 40 to 70 years. The intervention consisted of a 30- to 45-minute individual counseling session that featured BSE instruction, training and practice with silicone models, identification of barriers to BSE, and problem-solving. This intervention was followed by two brief follow-up telephone calls. The study outcome measure was self-reported BSE practice, which included duration, frequency, and specific elements of exam.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The study had a 90% response rate. At the 1-year follow-up, chi2 analyses showed that significantly more individuals in the BSE intervention (59%) reported adequate BSE performance compared with those in the control group (12.2%; p < .001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This brief intervention was successful in encouraging women to perform adequate BSEs. Although the role of the BSE in patient care remains controversial, these results show that even brief intervention programs can be effective at encouraging self-screening for cancer. This intervention could easily be modified to target other screening practices (e.g., skin or testicular cancer screening) that are associated with reduced cancer morbidity and mortality.
authors.affiliation: Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research, 3800 N. Interstate Ave., Portland, OR 97227-1110, USA. Nangel.M.Lindberg@kpchr.org
authors.forename: Nangel M
authors.initials: NM
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: Victor J
authors.initials: VJ
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: K Sabina
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Russell E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Glasgow
authors.forename: Deborah J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Toobert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000517:prevention & control; D016504:Breast Self-Examination / Q000379:methods*; D003376:Counseling; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009922:Oregon; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D010353:Patient Education as Topic