A prospective cohort study investigating psychosocial predictors of attendance at a mobile breast screening service

Abstract

This study aimed to examine whether knowledge, attitudes and concerns predicted attendance at the mobile Breast X-Ray Programme in Sydney. A cohort study design was used, whereby women were surveyed prior to the implementation of the program, and two years later records were checked to determine whether they had attended for screening. Telephone interviews were sought with randomly selected women aged 45 to 70 years living in the central Sydney area (the screening van's catchment area). A total of 285 women was surveyed (response rate: 50 per cent). Of these, 86 (30 per cent) subsequently attended at the mobile van and 199 did not. Attendance did not appear to be related to any of the following factors: knowledge; attitudes; prior experience; perceived susceptibility and morbid concern in relation to breast cancer; the amount of information about screening mammography to which a woman had been exposed. The results are interpreted in light of methodological considerations plus findings from our other research.