ACCEPTABILITY OF MOBILE MAMMOGRAPHY AMONG COMMUNITY-DWELLING OLDER WOMEN

OBJECTIVE: To test the acceptability of mobile mammography among commu nity-dwelling older women and to identify factors predictive of mobile mammography acceptance. DESIGN: Case series. SETTING: Twelve communit y meal sites sponsored by the City of Los Angeles Area on Aging. PARTI CIPANTS: Two hundred fifty-five volunteers aged 60 to 84 years who att ended community meal sites. INTERVENTION: On-site mammography offered to women who had not had a mammogram within the last year. MEASUREMENT S: Mammography acceptance rates, reasons for accepting or declining th e mammogram, and breast cancer knowledge, beliefs, and intentions. MAI N RESULTS: One hundred seven of the 255 (42%) women were ineligible be cause they had received mammograms within the last year. Of the 148 wo men eligible, 57% accepted the mammograms and 43% declined; moreover, 20 of the 42 (48%) women who had not had a mammogram within the last 5 years or who never had a mammogram also accepted on-site mammography in the mobile van. Variables identified as predictive of mammogram acc eptance included Asian American status, not being an HMO member, being married, a reported willingness to accept a screening mammogram if re commended by a physician, and previous mammogram screening history. CO NCLUSION: Mobile mammography is acceptable to many older community-dwe lling women. Although mobile mammography does not eliminate all barrie rs that inhibit a woman from receiving a mammogram, it may substantial ly increase screening for some groups.