Are women getting relevant information about mammography screening for an informed consent: a critical appraisal of information brochures used for screening invitation in Germany, Italy, Spain and France

Are women getting relevant information about mammography screening for an informed consent: a critical appraisal of information brochures used for screening invitation in Germany, Italy, Spain and France

Background: The aim was to find out if information brochures on mammography screening in Germany, Italy, Spain and France contain more information to facilitate informed consent than in similar studies carried out over the last few years in Sweden, Canada, USA and the UK, countries with different me...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:European journal of public health Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 409 - 414
Main Authors: Gummersbach, Elisabeth, Piccoliori, Giuliano, Oriol Zerbe, Cristina, Altiner, Attila, Othman, Cecile, Rose, Christine, Abholz, Heinz-Harald
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: England Oxford University Press 01-08-2010
Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
Subjects:
Brochures
Comparative analysis
Europe
Female
Females
Humans
information brochures
Informed Consent
International comparisons
Mammography
mammography screening
Mass Screening
Medical screening
Patient Education as Topic - standards
Patient Education as Topic - statistics & numerical data
Women
Womens health
Europe
Canada
Italy
Sweden
France
Germany
Spain
British Isles
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background: The aim was to find out if information brochures on mammography screening in Germany, Italy, Spain and France contain more information to facilitate informed consent than in similar studies carried out over the last few years in Sweden, Canada, USA and the UK, countries with different medical cultures. Methods: We generated a list of essential information items on mammography screening for the purpose of informed consent. We mostly used the same items of information as had been used in previous studies and analysed the information brochures of major national initiatives in Germany and France, and three brochures each from regionalized programmes in Italy and Spain. We cross-checked which of our items were covered in the brochures and if correct numbers were given. Results: We found that the information brochures contained only about half of the information items we defined. Six of the eight brochures mentioned the reduction in breast-cancer fatalities. Four of the eight provided information on false positives, and four of the brochures highlighted the side-effects of radiation. The information on side-effects and risks provided by the brochures was generally of poor quality, and none of them referred to over diagnosis. When numbers were given, they were only indicated in terms of relative numbers. Conclusion: The information brochures currently being used in Germany, Italy, Spain and France are no better than the brochures analysed some years ago. Our results suggest that the providers of mammography screening programmes continue to conceal information from women that is essential when making an informed decision.
Bibliography:ArticleID:ckp174
istex:FB4BFF07B84896EBB29473F483199A092A1A0BBB
ark:/67375/HXZ-G3X46RGW-S
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 23
ObjectType-Article-2
ObjectType-Feature-1
ISSN:1101-1262
1464-360X
DOI:10.1093/eurpub/ckp174