Psychosocial Factors Affecting the Use of Mammography Testing for Breast Cancer Susceptibility: An Eight-Month Follow-Up Study in a Middle-Aged Japanese Woman Sample

Keiichiro Adachi,Toshinori Kitamura,Tokumi Ueno

doi:10.4236/ojmp.2013.24024

Abstract

We examined the psychosocial factors affecting middle-aged Japanese women’s intentions to undergo mammography, as well as their actual usage of mammography by applying the Parallel Processing Model (PPM) of self regulation longitudinally. A total of 1030 middle-aged women living in all parts of Japan participated in this study through internet research from September 2010 to May 2011. The participants were evaluated on the basis of a battery of questionnaires mainly including demographics, perceived breast cancer risk, worry about breast cancer, mammography testing beliefs, intentions to use mammography, seeking information about mammography, and actual usage of mammography thrice over an eight-month period. The main results were as follows: 1) Perceived risk and cancer worry affected the intention of undergoing mammography, and this effect was mediated by beliefs about mammography testing. 2) Intention to use mammography and past mammography usage predicted future usage of mammography, with past mammography usage being the strongest predictor. 3) Information seeking about mammography was the strongest predictor of using mammography during the eight-month follow-up period of middle-aged women who had not undergone any mammography testing. PPM was a useful model to explain the mechanism behind middle-aged Japanese women’s intentions to use mammography, as well as their actual usage of mammography. In addition, past mammography experience was the strongest predictor of regular mammography usage and information seeking was a critical factor for the first-usage of mammography.

Highlights

In 1994, the age-standardized incidence of breast cancer was greater than any other body region in Japanese women
The information and knowledge about disease threats within each of the five domains consists of factors such as symptoms and names, expected duration or expected age of onset, severity of pain and impact on life functions, infection or genes, and whether the disease was perceived as preventable, curable, or controllable [17]. These findings suggest that the cognitive representation of disease and screening itself and emotional responses to breast cancer risk would be the critical predictors for middleaged women in the actual usage of mammography
In Japan, because few studies were conducted in this area, we examined the exploratory efficacy of the PPM in mammography usage with a cross-sectional observation of a non-clinical sample of 243 college-aged women

Summary

Introduction

In 1994, the age-standardized incidence of breast cancer was greater than any other body region in Japanese women. In Japan, as well as in other developed countries, breast cancer is one of the most common causes of death among women. To reduce these fatalities, preventive interventions based on validated research are expected. In the United States, a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials [2] demonstrated that a 7% - 23% reduction of breast cancer mortality rates was noticed in women aged 40 - 49 years who underwent a screening mammography. Based on a systematic review of evidence, the US Preventive Service Task Force (USPSTF 2009) [4] released a new recommendation for women to begin a routine mammography screening biennially, from the age of 50 through 74. The USPSTF 2009 had to face a number of oppositions [6,7,8,9], OJMP

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Results