Customer fee and participation in breast-cancer screening

Until 1997, breast screening by mammography was free for all women living i n Turku, Finland. After this date, women born in certain years had to pay t o be screened. We did a retrospective study, using data obtained from Stati stics Finland, to ascertain whether or not the introduction of a fee affect ed attendance. We also assessed the effect of socioeconomic status on atten dance. Our findings show that people who had to pay for mammography attende d less often than women who were entitled to free screening, irrespective o f their socioeconomic status.