Uptake of Breast Screening is Influenced by Current Religion and Religion of Upbringing

Abstract

Research has shown that individuals with a current religious affiliation are more likely to use preventive health services. The aim of this study was to determine whether breast screening uptake in Northern Ireland is higher amongst women with a current affiliation to an organised religion and, for those with no current affiliation, to examine whether their religion of upbringing is associated with uptake of breast screening. The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) was used to link Census and national breast screening data for 37,211 women invited for routine breast screening between 2001 and 2004. Current religious affiliation, religion of upbringing and other demographic and socio-economic characteristics were as defined on the Census form. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between religion affiliation and attendance. Uptake of breast screening is about 25% lower for those without a current religious affiliation. There are modest differences between Catholics and Protestants, with the latter about 11% more likely to attend for screening. For those with no current religion, the religion of upbringing appears to positively influence attendance rates. These differences remain after adjustment for all of the socio-demographic and socio-economic factors that have been shown to influence uptake rates of breast screening in the UK to date. Record linkage is an efficient way to examine equity across demographic characteristics that are not routinely available. The lower uptake amongst those with no religious affiliation may mean that screening services may find it difficult to maintain or improve uptake rate in an increasingly secularised society.

Religious Attendance and Cancer Screening Behavior

“…We showed that religious attendance increases the likelihood of the undertaking of a cancer screening among middle-aged and older individuals in Germany. This is in accordance with the majority of existing studies (21)(22)(23)(24). Moreover, the same pattern occurs when researchers test the relationship between religious attendance and the utilization of various kinds of preventive health care, such as physical examinations (39).…”

“…Regarding the differences between Catholics, Protestants, and those who are not members of any religious group, previous research reveals that Protestants are more likely to undergo breast examinations (24) as well as preventive cancer screening in general (46) for Northern Irish women. A possible explanation might be that a higher importance of the religious denomination in Northern Ireland, as Christians and Protestants were standing in conflict against each other not a long time ago, may have led to stronger differences between these subgroups.…”

“…Some of these associations are moderated by social support (21). Benjamins reveals that religious salience is positively correlated with participating in cholesterol tests (22,23), and O'Reilly shows that religiosity is associated with increased chances of attending breast examinations (24). On the other hand, Speed et al do not find a significant association between religious engagement and cancer screenings (25).…”

“…Moreover, O'Reilly et al detect that Catholics are significantly more likely to undergo breast cancer screening than denominational people (24). Zapka et al find that Jewish women have a higher likelihood of having a mammogram than Catholic or Protestant women (26).…”

Does transpersonal trust moderate the association between chronic conditions and general practitioner visits in the oldest old? Results of the AgeCoDe and AgeQualiDe study

“…Other studies exist that examined the link between religion or spirituality and health screening behavior [37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] as well as mental health service utilization. [47][48][49] These studies mainly showed that these explanatory variables were associated with greater use of preventive care services, whereas they were associated with decreased utilization of professional mental health services.…”