Video breast health kits: testing a cancer education innovation in older high-risk populations.

BACKGROUND: The Breast Health Kit for Women Over 60 project was a 3-year study funded by NCI to develop and field test video self-instruction programs designed to increase breast cancer screening for older black and white women.

METHODS: Impact of kit use on knowledge about breast cancer risk/screening, breast self-examination (BSE) proficiency, and mammography use was assessed with 439 women in Massachusetts and Georgia. BSE proficiency was measured by demonstration of inspection/palpation skills and detection of lumps in a simulation model. Analysis with a noncompliant mammography user subsample (N = 143) tested the effectiveness of kit use on mammography screening. The sample was predominantly black (76%) with mean age of 71.6 years and mean education of 10.6 years.

RESULTS: Analyses of covariance revealed that women who used the kits had significantly better knowledge about breast cancer risk/screening (F = 23.6, P < or =.001) and were more proficient at BSE than kit nonusers as measured by both skills (F = 47.9, P < or =.001) and detection of lumps (F = 36.8, P < or =.001). No significant differences were found between subsample groups in receiving a poststudy mammogram, but a trend toward having mammograms was noted in the subsample who used the kits (chi(2) = 1.7, P < =.09).

CONCLUSIONS: Age and ethnically sensitive self-instructional breast health kits were found to be effective in increasing knowledge about breast cancer risk and BSE proficiency in older women. Future research is needed to explore how other strategies combined with kit use can assure mammography compliance in this population.