Prediction and Verification of a Woman's Intention to Participate in a Mammography Screening Program

The purpose of this study was to predict intention to obtain a mammogram on a mobile medical van, using Ajzen and Fishbein's theory of reasoned action. Verification of intention through behavior follow-up was conducted on 199 women ages 40 and older through use of a medical center's mobile medical van. Using regression equations, the results showed that (a) the model failed to predict intention when using the mobile van for screening breast cancer, yet (b) intention was significantly predicted in regard to obtaining a mammogram within the next two years. Attitude was a significant predictor of intention over and above subjective norm, whereas subjective norm was not a significant predictor of intention over and above attitude. The test for interaction between attitude and subjective norm was a significant predictor of intention. In view of this, the attitudinal component should receive greater emphasis with regard to designing health promotion activities aimed toward encouraging women to particip...