Effects of a risk-based online mammography intervention on accuracy of perceived risk and mammography intentions.

The study measured perceived risk accuracy and stated mammography intentions, not actual screening behavior. The final analysis included 2,918 women, but among higher-risk women, drop-out rates, insurance coverage, and prior mammograms differed across conditions. Participants were stratified by objective risk, so the findings may not apply when women of all risk levels receive the same message. All risk-based conditions included individualized risk information, so the effects of exemplars and tailoring were not tested in isolation. The objective risk estimate did not include all breast cancer risk factors, such as breastfeeding, and participants may have based perceived risk on other factors. The intervention was delivered online through email links, not through in-person counseling. Even where differences were found, the expository, untailored exemplar, and tailored exemplar conditions were not substantially different, and these elements were a small part of the extended intervention.

No conflicts of interest or funding statement is included in the supplied text; the article is labeled as supported by NIH extramural funding.

Do not read this as evidence that the intervention increases actual mammography screening. It measured perceived risk accuracy and stated intentions, not whether women later had mammograms.