Investigating the Contribution of Benefits and Barriers on Mammography Intentions of Middle Class Urban Indian Women: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Few studies on screening behaviors have examined socio-cognitive correlates of cancer beliefs for South Asian women to inform message design in health communication campaigns (Airhihenbuwa & Obregon, 2000). This exploratory study investigates the contribution of benefits and barriers in mammography intentions in a non-probability sample (N = 86) of urban Indian women recruited from 3 neighborhoods. Logistic regression analyses of cross-sectional data demonstrate that benefits of mammography significantly influence mammography intentions (p < .05), whereas barriers do not. In conclusion, support is found for emphasizing benefits of mammography for mammography intentions in the middle class urban Indian sample examined in the study.

Keywords:

• Barriers
• Behavioral Intentions
• Benefits
• Health Belief Model
• India
• Mammograms

Acknowledgments

The author thanks the women of the three neighborhoods in New Delhi, India for their participation in the study.

Notes

Note. Reference category = 1 = Yes (plan to have mammogram in coming year); Hosmer and Lemeshow test, χ²(7, N =57) = 10.846, p = .145; Nagelkerke R ² = .185.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Vinita Agarwal

Vinita Agarwal (PhD, Purdue University, 2009) is an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Arts at Salisbury University.