MONDAY, Aug. 26, 2002 (HealthDayNews) -- Personalized telephone and e-mail reminders may be one way to encourage women to get mammography screenings.
So says a study in the August issue of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.
"Tailored interventions -- those developed for one specific recipient based on her particular characteristics -- have shown great promise for increasing mammography," says study author Victoria L. Champion, of the Indiana University School of Nursing.
The study followed 976 women in St. Louis and Indianapolis who were 51 or older and who hadn't had a mammogram for at least 15 months. The women were divided into four groups: those who received no message, others who received only a telephone message, a group who received only a mail reminder, and others who received a combination of mail and telephone messages.
"The combination intervention group had more than twice as many women who received mammograms by follow-up than did the usual care group," Champion says.
Nearly 40 percent of the women who received the combination messages followed through with a mammography screening, compared to 21 percent of the women who had no tailored message sent to them.
Separate mail and telephone messages did lead to increased mammography screenings, but not as much as in the combination group.
The mailed messages included an introductory letter with messages tailored to the woman's age, family history of breast cancer and mammography screening history. The telephone messages lasted 15 minutes on average, and included counseling on topics such as risks, benefits and barriers to mammography.
More Information
The National Cancer Institute has more information on mammograms.
