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Volume 8 Supplement 1

Symposium Mammographicum 2006

  • Poster Presentation
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Targeting Asian women results in greater uptake for breast screening

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers among all women in the United Kingdom. The 2001 uptake rate for invitations to attend screening at a breast screening centre was observed to be low (53%) for GP practices with a high population of Asian women.

The breast screening health promotion team plus an interpreter, who was well known in the community, held a roadshow in a shopping centre in May 2004. This brought breast screening issues to the attention of the target group with a wide range of linguistic abilities. It was found that both Asian men and women responded positively to literature and personal discussion in their own language.

In November 2004 the GP practices with a high proportion of registered Asian women were invited for breast screening, and the uptake was 80% in the 50–70 years age range. This shows that the targeted health promotion enabled the women to make informed choices about accepting the breast screening invitation, despite the obvious barriers.

Questions for future research are: Will the acceptance rate be maintained without further targeting in 2007 when the women are re-invited for screening? Should a culturally based information programme be implemented to develop cost-effective breast screening for ethnic minorities?

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Gillespie, P. Targeting Asian women results in greater uptake for breast screening. Breast Cancer Res 8 (Suppl 1), P60 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1186/bcr1475

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/bcr1475

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