Increasing mammography among women aged 40-74 by use of a stage-matched, tailored intervention.

Background: Tailoring is a promising technique for encouraging greater performance of health-related behaviors. Tailored interventions are designed to be more individualized to personal characteristics, in contrast to "standard" interventions where all participants receive the same materials.

Methods: A total of N = 1864 women aged 40-74 were recruited from a staff model HMO and randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: (a) No Educational Materials, (b) Standard Materials, and (c) Stage-Matched Materials. A provider-directed component was common across all three conditions. The Standard and Stage-Matched groups each received two mailed educational packets after baseline and follow-up telephone interviews. The Stage-Matched intervention was based on the Transtheoretical Model of behavior change.

Results: Analyses of n = 1397 women (after all attrition) showed that receipt of mammography after the baseline interview was higher for the Stage-Matched group (63.6%) than for the No Materials group (54.9%; OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.10, 1.86). The Standard intervention group was intermediate (58. 5%). The Standard group did not differ from the No Materials group, but did differ from the Stage-Matched group in multivariate analysis.

Conclusions: Stage-matched, tailored materials may be a means to encourage screening mammography. Such interventions can be implemented by telephone and mail.