A record linkage to examine the influence of poor mental health on breast screening uptake
type: CreativeWork
description: Early detection is vital in the fight to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with breast cancer and the gold-standard method of achieving this is through routine screening of the at-risk population. Currently in the United Kingdom (U.K), women aged between 50 and 70 are routinely invited through the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) to participate in elective mammography once every three years. However, screening uptake rates are suboptimal and vary widely, and this has been identified as a central factor contributing to avoidable cancer deaths. One potentially significant factor which may contribute to these gradients in screening uptake is poor mental health. Compared to the general population, individuals with a mental illness have a significantly reduced life expectancy, suffering increased morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, and cancer. A number of reviews have already identified inequities in the provision of healthcare to patients with mental illness who have cancer, but it remains unclear whether this finding extends to routine breast cancer screening in the U.K. This study represents the first of its kind to examine the impact of poor mental health, and of physical disabilities, on attendance at routine breast screening in Northern Ireland. The first objective of this thesis was to identify the socio-demographic determinants of breast screening uptake in the three years following the 2011 Census, and to compare this with previously published results from the 2001 Census. Population attributable fractions were then calculated for each of the significant predictors of breast screening uptake to assess the overall contribution of socio-demographic factors to non-attendance at breast cancer screening. The second aim of the thesis was to investigate the impact of self-reported poor mental health on breast screening uptake, and the extent to which this explained previously determi…
abstract: Early detection is vital in the fight to reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with breast cancer and the gold-standard method of achieving this is through routine screening of the at-risk population. Currently in the United Kingdom (U.K), women aged between 50 and 70 are routinely invited through the National Health Service Breast Screening Programme (NHSBSP) to participate in elective mammography once every three years. However, screening uptake rates are suboptimal and vary widely, and this has been identified as a central factor contributing to avoidable cancer deaths. One potentially significant factor which may contribute to these gradients in screening uptake is poor mental health. Compared to the general population, individuals with a mental illness have a significantly reduced life expectancy, suffering increased morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, diabetes, and cancer. A number of reviews have already identified inequities in the provision of healthcare to patients with mental illness who have cancer, but it remains unclear whether this finding extends to routine breast cancer screening in the U.K. This study represents the first of its kind to examine the impact of poor mental health, and of physical disabilities, on attendance at routine breast screening in Northern Ireland. The first objective of this thesis was to identify the socio-demographic determinants of breast screening uptake in the three years following the 2011 Census, and to compare this with previously published results from the 2001 Census. Population attributable fractions were then calculated for each of the significant predictors of breast screening uptake to assess the overall contribution of socio-demographic factors to non-attendance at breast cancer screening. The second aim of the thesis was to investigate the impact of self-reported poor mental health on breast screening uptake, and the extent to which this explained previously determi…
author: Ross, Emma
language: eng
keywords: NILS, mental illness, disability, record linkage, breast screening
date published: 2018-12
date modified: 2026-07-24T03:55:12Z
provider: Queen's University Belfast
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Queen's University Belfast