The psychosocial impact of implementing a mammography screening campaign in an Australian community

We examined the psychosocial impact of implementing a generalised campaign to promote mammography screening in an Australian inner city community. Prior to the campaign, telephone interviews were conducted with 628 randomly selected women aged 45-70, 285 in central Sydney (where the screening programme operated) and 343 from the rest of Sydney. A second cross-sectional survey was conducted two years after the campaign commenced. The campaign achieved an estimated 21% attendance rate in an eligible population of 43,000 women over a period of 22 months. Overall the campaign reached a large section of the eligible community, with 70% of women being aware of the van's existence. In addition, the proportion of women who reported being exposed to 'a moderate amount' or 'quite a lot' of information about screening increased by almost 20%. However, two thirds of women still reported being exposed to 'only a little' or no information at all. Attendance was achieved largely in the absence of improvements in knowledge and attitudes. Where change did happen, it occurred in the community overall, rather than being confined to the campaign's target area. Changes were most likely due to general electronic and print media messages, which were largely positive in their tone of reporting on screening. The campaign in one area of central Sydney, Drummoyne, which was much more intense, was successful in encouraging greater awareness of the van and mammography screening, plus greater attendance than in the rest of central Sydney, but had no impact on knowledge or attitudes. There was no demonstrable impact on psychological morbidity.