Queen's University Belfast, Grosvenor Road, Belfast, BT12 6BJ, UK.
J Relig Health. 2013 Dec;52(4):1168-76. doi: 10.1007/s10943-011-9556-7.
Research has shown that individuals with a current religious affiliation are more likely to use preventive health services. The aim of this study was to determine whether breast screening uptake in Northern Ireland is higher amongst women with a current affiliation to an organised religion and, for those with no current affiliation, to examine whether their religion of upbringing is associated with uptake of breast screening. The Northern Ireland Longitudinal Study (NILS) was used to link Census and national breast screening data for 37,211 women invited for routine breast screening between 2001 and 2004. Current religious affiliation, religion of upbringing and other demographic and socio-economic characteristics were as defined on the Census form. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the relationship between religion affiliation and attendance. Uptake of breast screening is about 25% lower for those without a current religious affiliation. There are modest differences between Catholics and Protestants, with the latter about 11% more likely to attend for screening. For those with no current religion, the religion of upbringing appears to positively influence attendance rates. These differences remain after adjustment for all of the socio-demographic and socio-economic factors that have been shown to influence uptake rates of breast screening in the UK to date. Record linkage is an efficient way to examine equity across demographic characteristics that are not routinely available. The lower uptake amongst those with no religious affiliation may mean that screening services may find it difficult to maintain or improve uptake rate in an increasingly secularised society.
研究表明，目前有宗教信仰的人更有可能使用预防保健服务。本研究旨在确定北爱尔兰的乳房筛查参与率是否在有组织宗教信仰的女性中更高，对于那些没有宗教信仰的女性，研究是否其成长过程中的宗教信仰与乳房筛查参与率有关。本研究使用北爱尔兰纵向研究（NILS）将 2001 年至 2004 年间邀请参加常规乳房筛查的 37211 名女性的人口普查和全国乳房筛查数据进行了关联。目前的宗教信仰、成长过程中的宗教信仰以及其他人口统计和社会经济特征均按人口普查表定义。多变量逻辑回归用于确定宗教信仰与参与之间的关系。没有当前宗教信仰的人接受乳房筛查的比例约低 25%。天主教徒和新教徒之间存在一些差异，后者接受筛查的可能性高出约 11%。对于没有当前宗教信仰的人，成长过程中的宗教信仰似乎会对参与率产生积极影响。在调整了迄今为止影响英国乳房筛查参与率的所有社会人口和社会经济因素后，这些差异仍然存在。记录关联是一种有效的方法，可以检查在人口特征方面的公平性，而这些特征通常是不可用的。没有宗教信仰的人参与率较低可能意味着筛查服务在一个日益世俗化的社会中可能难以维持或提高参与率。
