Reasons for non-attendance for breast screening by Asian women

CONCERN is felt among those involved with the NHS breast screening programme that attendance by women from minority ethnic communities may be low, particularly amongst Asian women from the Indian sub-continent*. It is important to establish the relative importance of reasons for non-attend ance if health promotion resources to improve up take are to be directed in the most effective manner. In the study reported here, 93 non-attenders with Asian names, from an inner-city area of Manchester, were followed up by link workers in the summer of 1989. Half the women were found to be no longer resident at the address to which invitations were sent, and one-third of the others were on extended visits to Asia. Both attitudinal and practical reasons for non-attendance were given by the women who were contacted and interviewed. Thirty-four inter viewed women were offered additional appoint ments for screening, and after this personal intervention there was a 70 per cent uptake. Con clusions about the uptake of screening by Asian women may be unreliable, with misleadingly low values resulting from the inaccuracy of screening registers. Furthermore, comparisons made between Asian and other populations may be invalid. There appears to be potential for improving attendance by Asian women by increasing the understanding of what the invitation is for.