Encouraging attendance at screening mammography: knowledge, attitudes and intentions of general practitioners

We surveyed a random sample of 200 general practitioners from the Sydney metropolitan area about their attitudes to and knowledge of screening mammography. General practitioners' knowledge about some aspects of screening mammography was found to be limited; only 25% of the sample knew that the risk of breast cancer increases with age and only 30% of the sample knew that the evidence for a reduction in mortality as a result of mammographic screening is weakest for women of less than 50 years of age. Ninety-five per cent of general practitioners were of the opinion that breast self-examination and clinical examination were important for asymptomatic women of more than 45 years of age compared with the 75% of respondents who viewed mammography in the same way. Scores on a scale that was constructed to measure attitudes to mammographic screening showed that 20% of general practitioners had a "very favourable" attitude, and that a further 67% of general practitioners had a "favourable" attitude. No general practitioners had a "very unfavourable" attitude. Eighty-four per cent of general practitioners indicated that they would recommend that their patients attend a free screening-mammography service. Willingness to recommend mammographic screening was predicted by a general practitioner's attitude score. The strongest component of this prediction was a belief that the benefits of screening mammography outweighed the radiation risks. General practitioners need to be supplied with correct information about target groups for screening, so that women in the appropriate age-groups are encouraged to attend screening programmes.