Opportune intervention of family doctors in the programme of early detection of breast cancer

• Published in: Atención primaria 2008-04, Vol.40 (4), p.187-192
• Main Authors: Gobierno Hernández, Jesús, Domínguez Coello, Santiago, Hernández Díaz, Francisco, Fernández Hernández, José Angel, García Marrero, María Rosario, Díaz González, Lidia
• Format: Article
• Language: Spanish
• Subjects: Aged; Algorithms; Breast Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Breast Neoplasms - psychology; Confidence Intervals; Early Diagnosis; Family Practice; Female; Humans; Mammography - psychology; Mammography - statistics & numerical data; Mass Screening - methods; Middle Aged; Patient Compliance; Program Evaluation; Rural Population; Spain; Urban Population
• ISSN: 0212-6567
• DOI: 10.1157/13118061

To study to what extent a brief intervention increases the rate of participation in the programme of early diagnosis of breast cancer (EDBC). Before-and-after intervention study without a control group on women who had not had a mammography. Primary care: 3 rural lists and 2 urban ones. All women between 52 and 67 who attended the clinic during a 6-month period. If they had had no mammography in the previous 2 years, the reasons were explored and a brief structured intervention, depending on the reason, was conducted. After this, the woman was invited to make an appointment with the EDBC Unit. Effective intervention: checking that the mammography had been done at the EDBC Unit. It was checked whether women who had not attended for consultation attended the unit with their mammography done. Out of a target population of 565 women, 403 (71%) attended for consultation. Of these, 315 (78%) were in the programme, 51 (13%) had had a mammography outside the programme, and 37 (9%) had not had a mammography. After the intervention, 21 women had a mammography (56.7% [95% CI, 41-73] success of intervention). Seventy of the 162 women who did not attend for consultation had a mammography in the programme. The rate of participation in the EDBC rose from 68% (385/565) to 72% (406/565). The brief intervention was effective in over half the women. This small increase contributed to reaching the minimum levels of coverage recommended in a programme of this kind.