Mammography in a mobile setting: remaining barriers

This study examined the barriers to undergoing mammography perceived by a group of women with ready access to reduced-cost screening mammography in a mobile van at the workplace. The subject sample comprised women who made appointments for mammography at the Susan G. Komen Mobile Breast Center in Dallas. Women who underwent mammography and women who made appointments but did not undergo the examination were asked to complete a survey examining potential barriers to undergoing mammography. The group of patients surveyed were, as a whole, well educated, affluent, less than 50 years of age, and knowledgeable about breast cancer. Compliant women were more likely to have previously undergone mammography (P less than .001), to have been influenced by their physician's advice to undergo mammography (P less than .005), and to be influenced by the media than were noncompliant women (P less than .005). These findings may be useful in developing strategies to increase mammographic screening in a self-referred population.