The effect of a church-based breast cancer screening education program on mammography rates among African-American women

J Natl Med Assoc. 2002 Feb;94(2):100-6.

Abstract

This study examines the effectiveness of breast cancer screening education programs on mammography rates among African-American women 40 years of age and over. We conducted two types of educational programs in community settings, primarily in African-American churches. Three-month follow-up interviews were used to determine whether women who participated in programming were more likely to get a mammogram if they had not had a mammogram in the last year. Our results demonstrate that the educational programs significantly increased the likelihood of getting a mammogram when compared to a control group that received no educational programming. Further, we found that the programs were effective for motivating breast cancer screening in housing projects as well as in the churches, and that the effectiveness of the programs remained even when we controlled for socioeconomic status, depression, and age.

Publication types

  • Evaluation Study
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Black People*
  • Black or African American
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Breast Neoplasms / ethnology*
  • Community Health Services
  • Female
  • Health Education / methods*
  • Humans
  • Mammography / statistics & numerical data*
  • Middle Aged
  • Program Evaluation
  • Religion
  • Socioeconomic Factors