Dermot R Gorman
We describe the uptake of breast screening in Polish women living in the Lothian region of Scotland 2010-13.This was done by matching Scottish Breast Screening Programme uptake data to Polish and other ethnicity (determined using OnoMAP). We calculated uptake rate in Polish women and compared this with the uptake in all other women. In 2010-13 553 Polish women were invited for screening in Lothian and 258 attended giving an uptake of 46.7% (compared with 70.7% for all other women). Breast screening levels in Polish women are considerably lower than for other women. While other ethnic minorities also have lower uptake, the dynamics and explanations of this may be different for Polish women. This low uptake in Lothian and the reasons for it are likely to be similar throughout the United Kingdom. These reasons, including the potential influence of the breast screening programme in Poland, require further investigation.
