SCREENING MAMMOGRAPHY AND CONSTRUCTS FROM THE TRANSTHEORETICAL MODEL - ASSOCIATIONS USING 2 DEFINITIONS OF THE STAGES-OF-ADOPTION

The two purposes of this investigation were: (a) to examine whether an association existed between stages of adopting reg ular mammography a nd decision-making constructs from the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change, and (b) to determine whether any such associations w ould be found for each of the two ways of defining the stages-of-adopt ion. One method integrated past screening history with a report of fut ure intention for screening; the other method used a single item with predetermined response categories. Data were from the baseline survey of 1,323 women aged 50-74 who were recruited as part of an interventio n study through a local Health Maintenance Organization. Results showe d that both ways of defining stages of adopting regular mammography we re associated with decisional balance and processes-of-change. The met hod that integrated past history plus intention provided somewhat bett er discrimination among stages. Women who were labeled as being at ''R isk of Relapse,'' and those who said they waited for a ''Provider's Re commendation,'' may be useful groups to add to the set of stages that have been employed so far by the TTM. In addition, a tendency to avoid the health care system in general was used as a process-of-change to complement the mammography-specific processes.