Study: Fear of Dying Motivates White and Hispanic Women to Get Mammograms

For white and Hispanic women, stressing the risk of dying if you don't go for breast cancer screening may be a better way to motivate women to get mammograms, according to researchers at Yale.

Public health officials have a tendency to stress that screening can help save a woman's life rather than to stress the risk associated with not getting screened, which is dying from the disease, according to the study published in Health Psychology.

"Community and governmental organizations involved in promoting cancer detection behaviors have resisted using messages that emphasize undesirable consequences," said Peter Salovey, lead author of the study.

Researchers studied more than 750 women over age 40, most of them black, white or Hispanic. The participants were randomly chosen to watch either a video emphasizing the benefits of getting a mammogram or one that stressed the risks of not getting one.

A random group of the women watched videos depicting women of their ethnicity, showing breast cancer statistics targeted to their ethnic group. The remainder of the participants watched videos showing women of different ethnicities.

The women were surveyed about their mammography use 6 and 12 months following the study. The white and Hispanic women who watched a non-ethnic-targeted video emphasizing the risks of not being screened were most likely to get mammograms over the next 6 months, according to the study.

The screening rates among black women did not significantly change throughout the study period.

Researchers also discovered that the non-ethnic-targeted videos were better at persuading white and Hispanic women to get mammograms than those tailored to their ethnic group. This finding did not apply to the black women. Researchers speculate that the black women in the study may have been unresponsive to the videos due to difficult accessing mammography services.

Researchers suggest that future studies should tailor messages to women's specific concerns and beliefs about breast cancer and mammography, as well as cultural and family issues, rather than only targeting ethnicity. They also stress that further studies with black women should include easier access to mammography services, such as mobile mammography clinics offering free screenings.

Other sources: Health Psychology, Center for the Advancement of Health