The Effect of a Patient Decision Aids for Breast Cancer Screening

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in Chile. National efforts focus on early detection, offering universal access to breast cancer screening through mammography to women at risk age. However, 30% of women do not undertake the exam due to a lack of knowledge and anxiety when facing the decision. The aim of this study is to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a decision aid (DA) for women facing breast cancer screening decision in the country. Methods: following the Medical Research Council guidelines for the development and implementation of a complex intervention in public health, the investigators have: 1) culturally adapted the German DA for mammography; 2) conducted focus groups with experts to further develop the DA; 3) pilot-tested the online DA with 20 women in primary care centres. A total of 3,269 women aged 50 to 69 years old are invited to join the study. The intervention group accesses a webpage, answers a set of questionnaires at baseline, and then the DA (developed according to the IPDAS recommendations). The Control group accesses a webpage, answers a set of questionnaires at baseline, and then receives standardised information given by the healthcare system. Both groups complete the questionnaires two weeks later. The primary outcome measure is an adapted and validated version of Informed Choice. Additionally, decisional conflict, anxiety, and screening undertake rate are measured. Multiple lineal regression analysis will be conducted.