Determinants of women's decision to undergo early mammography: A survey study

Abstract

For young women, mammography has limited effectiveness and entails exposure to radiation, discomfort, and additional expense. This study identifies factors associated with women's willingness to undergo mammography despite official guidelines to the contrary. Using the Health Belief Model, we surveyed Israeli women aged 40-51 who are not at high risk of breast cancer and who had or had never undergone mammography. The results show that sociodemographic characteristics, private insurance coverage, out-of-pocket payments to physicians, and three Health Belief Model categorieslower perceived barriers to mammography, higher expectations of benefits, and stronger health motivationare associated with the decision to undergo mammography. In addition, higher levels of perceived susceptibility to illness and experience with mammography are significant predictors of intentions to undergo early mammography. Understanding the determinants of women's tendency to undergo mammography contrary to recommendations may help nurses and healthcare policymakers to create health promotion programs targeting this group of women. Preventing unnecessary mammograms may reduce costs to households and health maintenance organizations, mitigate ineffective use of medical facilities, and alleviate the burden on the healthcare system.

Temporal Evolution and Associated Factors of Adherence to Mammography Screening among Women in Spain: Results from Two National Health Surveys (2017–2020)

“…Individuals with private insurance typically choose this coverage to avoid waiting times and gain direct access to specialists [63]. Our finding possibly suggests that economic position is one of the factors influencing the decision to undergo mammography [64].…”

Determinants of Protective Healthcare Services Awareness among Female Syrian Refugees in Turkey

“…At the same time, these programs also increase public knowledge and, therefore, public awareness. Additionally, the effects of age, marital status, education, income, health literacy, lifestyle, health insurance, access to healthcare, and parental history of cancer have all been investigated in efforts to increase women’s awareness of protective health services for the prevention of cancer and their decisions to use such services [ 22 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. It is well known that age has been linked to cancer development [ 33 ].…”