Table 1.

Focus group questions

Construct	Sample question
General health	What health issues are you most concerned about, for yourself?
	What do we know about the causes of breast cancer? What have you heard?
	What do women do to prevent breast cancer?
	How do you find out if you have breast cancer?
	What do you think is the most important thing women can do to detect breast cancer early?
	If no one mentions mammograms, ask, “Have you heard about mammograms? What have you heard?”
Mammograms	When should you get your first mammogram? At what age?
	How often should you have a mammogram after that?
	Who makes these recommendations?
	Have you seen or heard anything recently about changes in these recommendations?
	How did hearing or seeing this information make you feel?
Screening guidelines and changes in screening guidelines	What are your thoughts and concerns about these changes?
	Why do you think the guidelines changed?
	What makes you think the guidelines changed because of < insert participants’ answer > ? (probe)
	How does the change make you feel?
	Do you think the guidelines will change again? Why or why not?
	How would you feel if the guidelines changed again?
	How do you think the change in the mammography screening guidelines will affect you?
Decision making	Think about a time when you had to make a health decision for yourself or some one in your family. Did you want to talk about it with your health care provider?
	What made you want to discuss it with your provider?
	What did you want to know?
	How did your provider respond?
	How did you feel about that response?
	What would have made that experience more successful for you?
Education	What do you think is the best way for women to learn about this issue, making decisions about mammograms?
	Probes:
	From their providers
	Health education materials (from where? Insurer?)
	Provider? News outlets? Online?
	Peer health leaders or navigators
	What do you think are the 3 most important things women in their 40s need to know?