Mammography screening participation: effects of a media campaign targeting Italian‐speaking women

Objectives: To evaluate the effect of a radio and newspaper campaign encouraging Italian‐speaking women aged 50–69 years to attend a population‐based mammography screening program. Methods: A series of radio scripts and newspaper advertisements ran weekly in the Italian‐language media over two, four‐week periods. Monthly mammography screens were analysed to determine if numbers of Italian‐speaking women in the program increased during the two campaign periods, using interrupted time series regression analysis. A survey of Italian‐speaking women attending BreastScreen NSW during the campaign period (n=240) investigated whether individuals had heard or seen the advertisements. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in the number of initial or subsequent mammograms in Italian‐speaking women between the campaign periods and the period prior to (or after) the campaign. Twenty per cent of respondents cited the Italian media campaign as a prompt to attend. Fifty per cent had heard the radio ad and 30% had seen the newspaper ad encouraging Italian‐speaking women to attend BSNSW. The most common prompt to attend was the BSNSW invitation letter, followed by information or recommendation from a GP. Conclusion: Radio and newspaper advertisements developed for the Italian community did not significantly increase attendance to BSNSW. Implications: Measures of program effectiveness based on self‐report may not correspond to aggregate screening behaviour. The development of the media campaign in conjunction with the Italian community, and the provision of appropriate levels of resourcing, did not ensure the media campaign's success.