Increasing breast-cancer screening uptake: A randomized controlled experiment

J Health Econ. 2018 Mar:58:228-252. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.12.004. Epub 2018 Jan 31.

Abstract

Early screening increases the likelihood of detecting cancer, thereby improving survival rates. National screening programs have been established in which eligible women receive a letter containing a voucher for a free screening. Even so, mammography use is often considered as remaining too low. We test four behavioral interventions in a large-scale randomized experiment involving 26,495 women. Our main assumption is that, due to biases in decision-making, women may be sensitive to the content and presentation of the invitation letter they receive. None of our treatments had any significant impact on mammography use. Sub-sample analysis suggests that this lack of a significant impact holds also for women invited for the first time and low-income women.

Keywords: Behavioral interventions; Cancer screening; Randomized controlled experiment.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Breast Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Decision Making
  • Early Detection of Cancer
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Mammography*
  • Mass Screening
  • Middle Aged
  • Patient Acceptance of Health Care* / statistics & numerical data