Journal of Medical Screening > Volume 15, Number 1 > Pp. 14-17

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Original Articles

The effect of an organized, nationwide breast cancer screening programme on non-organized mammography activities

Imre Boncz, Associate Professor and Head  , Department of Health Economics, Policy and Management, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

Andor Sebestyén, Deputy-Director , County Baranya Health Insurance Fund Administration, Pécs, Hungary

István Pintér, Assistant Professor , Second Department of Medicine, University of Pécs, Hungary

István Battyány, Associate Professor and Head , Department of Radiology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

István Ember, Professor and Head , Institute of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary

Correspondence to: Imre Boncz MD, MSc, PhD, Department of Health Economics, Policy and Management, University of Pécs, 7621 Pécs, Vörösmarty út 4, Pécs, Hungary; imre.boncz{at}etk.pte.hu

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Objectives To analyse the effect of an organized, nationwide breast cancer screening programme on non-organized mammography activities in Hungary.

Setting The nationwide dataset of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration covering the years 2000–2005.

Methods Data derived from the nationwide database of the Hungarian National Health Insurance Fund Administration. The study includes all women undergoing mammography before (2000–2001) and after (2002–2003/2004–2005) the introduction of organized screening.

Results The number of women having non-organized (opportunistic/diagnostic) mammograms was around 250,000 in 2000–2001, but increased to 350,000 in 2005. In the age group 45–64 years in 2000–2001, only 27.4% of all women undergoing mammography were examined within locally-organized programmes. After the introduction of the nationwide programme, this percentage increased to 61.0% in 2002–2003, and 56.3% in 2004–2005. After the introduction of the nationwide organized programme (2002–2003), the proportion of organized screening mammographies remained among the highest in county Hajdú-Bihar (78.4%) and Zala (88.3%) and increased significantly in county Vas (87.7%).

Conclusion The introduction of an organized nationwide screening programme in Hungary resulted in increases in the number of screening mammographies, and also of non-organized mammographies. Although the ratio of organized screening versus non-organized mammography changed in favour of screening mammographies, there are large within-country differences between counties.

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