Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening attendance: Effect of removing the examination fee

Abstract

Objectives: The organized population-based screening programme for abdominal aortic aneurysm in Stockholm, Sweden, started in 2010. An examination fee was initially charged, but later removed because of a policy change. We examined the effect on screening attendance of removing the fee. Methods: The periods before and after removing the examination fee were compared with regard to screening attendance, overall, by municipality and by district. Results: Screening attendance was 79.2% in the period with an examination fee and 79.9% in the period without an examination fee (p = 0.1787), with no significant change in screening attendance between the periods. Conclusions: Although removing examination fees has been shown to have a positive impact on attendance in other screening programmes, we did not find this association in our study.