The Texas Breast Screening Project: Part II. Demographics, risk profiles, and health practices of participants.

More than 36,000 of the 64,459 women who had $50 mammograms after a media campaign in 1987 completed a demographic and risk factor questionnaire. The screened women were young and well educated with high annual incomes. Only 32% had had mammograms before 1987. Most women reported that high cost and lack of referral for mammography by their physicians were their reasons for not being screened previously. Publicity promoting the project and the lower cost for mammography were the features of the project that attracted participants. Population-based telephone surveys before and after the project showed a change in attitudes about breast cancer screening. The model used for recruitment in this project can improve compliance with recommendations for regular mammographic screening if charges for screening are reduced. Additional efforts are needed to attract minorities and poor or elderly women to regular breast screening.

Duke Scholars

Author Susan Halabi Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Division of Biostatistics