A woman?s chances of surviving breast cancer can be substantially improved through mammography screening at regular intervals. Yet, while most women have had at least one mammogram, far fewer elect to be screened regularly, thus limiting the potential benefits of this early detection method. Moreover, little is known of psychosocial factors influencing regular screening behavior across racial groups as most studies have retrospectively examined one-time or recent mammography use in predominantly Caucasian populations. An analysis of data that prospectively examined psychosocial influences on regular screening behavior among African-American and Caucasian women is thus proposed. Particular attention will be given to identifying factors influencing regular screening among African Americans as these women are diagnosed with breast cancer at a later stage and have a poorer five-year survival rate than white women. In so doing, this analysis will provide information that may contribute to developing efficacious and culturally-sensitive interventions to increase regular mammography use. The proposed analysis will utilize data collected for a prospective study of potential race differences in the screening mammography process. The sample for the proposed analysis is comprised of approximately 1,064 women (40% African-American and 60% Caucasian)who were interviewed one month after a normal screening exam and again on average 29 months thereafter. Baseline data obtained from these women included psychosocial factors drawn from the Health Belief Model, Social Learning Theory, the Theory of Reasoned Action, and Attribution Theory. Follow-up data measured regular screening behavior by number of subsequent mammograms and time to subsequent screening(s). Detailed multivariable analyses will be used to examine: 1) whether specific psychosocial predictors can explain the hypothesized race difference in regular screening behavior; and 2) whether the relationships between psychosocial predictors and regular screening behavior differ by race.
| Calvocoressi, Lisa; Sun, Albert; Kasl, Stanislav V et al. (2008) Mammography screening of women in their 40s: impact of changes in screening guidelines. Cancer 112:473-80 |
| Jones, Beth A; Reams, Kam; Calvocoressi, Lisa et al. (2007) Adequacy of communicating results from screening mammograms to African American and White women. Am J Public Health 97:531-8 |
| Calvocoressi, Lisa; Stolar, Marilyn; Kasl, Stanislav V et al. (2005) Applying recursive partitioning to a prospective study of factors associated with adherence to mammography screening guidelines. Am J Epidemiol 162:1215-24 |
