1. Breast cancer-screening program :  free of charge  women between 50 and 69 years old  mammotest (screening mammography in the program) every other year  physician prescription or invitation  start (Hainaut) : first mammotest : june 2002 – first invitation : september 2002 From the literature, it is known that people of low socio-economic status participate less in prevention activities and screening programs. Methods Data Source : routine data of the provincial centre for breast cancer screening from June 2002 till June 2005 for women aged 50-69 years at the time of examination, inhabiting Hainaut province. Data are based on women declaration at their first mammotest. Definition : women of low socio-economic status are women who benefit from an increase reimbursement of health care. Results During this period, 148 916 invitations for a first screening exam were sent. The overall response rate was low with 17 148 (11.5%) women in the target group having at least one mammotest. 1) Khi²=77.9, p<0.000001 Those figures are compatible with “Breast Cancer Screening Program - 3 rd Report of Intermutual Agency” which mention a nation-wide index of participation 9% lower for women with increased reimbursement than average. The proportion of women of low socio-economic status among participants shows a minor insignificant decrease over time. Way of entry Women can access the program with a prescription of their physician or with an invitation. Most women (85%) entered the program through invitation. Women of low socio-economic status used slightly more often a prescription than other women: respectively 621 (15.6%) versus 1782 (13.5%) (Relative Risk = 1.15, IC95: 1.06-1.25). Previous mammography outside program Among women of low socio-economic status, 854 (22.9%) never had any previous mammography against 1804 (14.5%) among other women (Relative Risk = 1.58, IC95: 1.47-1.70). Among women of low socio-economic status who already had a mammography, 1635 (56.4%) had it more than 2 years ago or didn’t know when against 5277 (48.7%) among other women (Relative Risk = 1.16, IC95: 1.12-1.20). Second round Women of low socio-economic status who came in 2002 are slightly more likely (42.9%) to come at the second round than other women (36.7%) (Relative Risk = 1.11, IC95: 1.01-1.21). Conclusion In our province, women of low socio-economic status participate less than other women to the breast cancer-screening program. When they participate, they are more likely not to have had a recent (less than 2 years) mammography. This shows that increasing participation in this group will touch more women who did not benefit from regular screening before.  Observatoire de la Santé du Hainaut  rue Saint-Antoine 1  7021 Havré (Belgique)  Tél. : +32 (0)65 87 96 00  Fax : +32 (0)65 87 96 79  E-mail : observatoire.sante@hainaut.be  web : http://observatoiresante.hainaut.be      P ARTICIPATION OF WOMEN OF LOW SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS TO BREAST CANCER SCREENING IN HAINAUT PROVINCE  Christian MASSOT  Anne-Marie BERGHEZAN  Michel DEMARTEAU