Effectiveness of Intervention Strategies on Increasing the Mammogram Behavior of Middle-Aged Women

Purpose: The purpose was to examine the effectiveness of different intervention strategies on increasing the mammogram behavior of middle-aged women in Taiwan. The Health Belief Model (HBM) was designed to explore the relationship among health beliefs, intentions, and health behaviors. Many studies have adopted the HBM to explore health behaviors. According to the HBM, individuals’ perceived chances of being diagnosed with a disease tended to affect their probability of living a healthier lifestyle. Women with a higher awareness of the probability of getting breast cancer and with a higher degree of concern about getting breast cancer are more likely to receive mammograms.

Methods: A quasi-experimental design with random assignment was adopted to divide the participants into 4 groups. 205 middle-aged women participated. The four groups were then exposed to four intervention strategies (participants with higher mammogram behavioral intentions, participants who received a letter reminder, participants who received a telephone reminder, participants who received a letter and a telephone reminder) to investigate the impact of various strategies on women’s mammography behavior. Factors included sociodemographic, perceived health status, perceived risk of developing cancer, and mammogram behavioral intentions of participants. Outcome measures include mammogram behavior among middle-aged women.

Results: An analysis conducted one month after the intervention showed that participants with greater intent to receive mammograms appeared to have a higher chance of actually receiving the exam. Moreover, three months after the intervention, the probability of receiving a mammogram screening was likely to increase among the participants with a higher degree of perceived healthiness, and with more intent of receiving mammograms. One month or three months after the intervention participants who had received at least one type of intervention appeared to have a higher likelihood of receiving mammograms.

Conclusion: Healthcare providers should adopt intervention strategies to encourage middle-aged women to receive regular mammograms and other suggested breast cancer prevention measures in the future.