Abstract
Background: In Germany, women aged 50 to 69 are invited biennially to the population-based mammography screening programme (MSP). There is still a broad discussion whether the benefits of the programme outweigh its harms. Hence, the concept of informed choice is of particular importance for MSP. The aim of this survey was to assess the proportion of informed choices among migrant and non-migrant women invited to the German MSP for the first time. Methods: A random sample of 17,349 women aged 50 from a sub-region of North Rhine Westphalia was invited to participate in a postal cross-sectional survey conducted in German and Turkish. Turkish and other migrants were identified by country of birth and German resettlers additionally by self-reported resettler-status. Turkish migrant women were oversampled, due to expected lower response-rates. The effect of migration status on informed choice and on its three components (knowledge, attitude and intention) were assessed by chi-square tests and logistic regression modelling. Results:5,847 (33.7%) women responded to the postal questionnaire. 4,113 complete cases were included in the analyses. The proportion of women making informed choices was low (27.1%). Turkish migrant women had the highest odds for making an uninformed choice (OR 5.30, 95%CI 1.92-14.66) independent of educational level. Other migrant groups only had slightly higher odds for making an uninformed choice (German resettlers: OR 1.50, 95%CI 1.00-2.25; other migrants: OR 1.57, 95%CI 0.96-2.57) compared to non-migrant women. Fewer Turkish and other immigrant women intended to participate in the MSP. Immigrant women had a more positive attitude and a lower proportion of sufficient knowledge compared to non-migrant women. Conclusions: The overall proportion of informed choice in the German MSP is low and knowledge is poor. Measures are needed to improve information materials, strengthen health literacy and create a user-friendly environment facilitating informed choices especially for migrant women.
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