Attendance at cancer screening in the wake of widespread adverse publicity surrounding test results.

ABSTRACT

The largest error ever discovered in cervical smear test results was reported by an East Kent Hospitals' NHS Trust in 1996. To test whether the incident would have an impact on a separate NHS screening programme within the affected area, 1000 women who were due to be called for x ray mammography were asked how confident they would be about the accuracy of their mammogram result. Most women reported that they would be confident, but significantly fewer unconfident than confident women subsequently kept their appointment for breast screening. Attendance and non-attendance at breast screening in the area did not differ from previous screening rounds, suggesting that the error in the cervical cytology results had not adversely affected a separate screening programme.