Introduction Women eligible for organized breast cancer screening (OBCS) want to be better informed so that they can play an active part in the decision to participate, or not, in screening. A decision-aid tool (DAT) conforming to international standards, usable by both healthcare professionals and women, had been created.

The aim of the study was to validate an DAT for OBCS, in real-life conditions, with the women and healthcare professionals concerned.

Methods The main objective of the study, on the women’s side, was to analyze by comparison before/after reading the DAT: the acceptability of the DAT as well as the level of knowledge, decisional conflict and intention to participate. The women targeted by the OBCS were recruited from the waiting rooms of 4 general practices.

The main objective for the healthcare professionals involved (midwives, gynecologists and general practitioners) was to validate the DAT by analyzing acceptability using the same questionnaire as the women.

Results 57 of the 147 patients recruited completed the questionnaire. 90.5% rated the DAT as good/excellent. Level of knowledge increased significantly (10.5/18 vs. 12.1/18, p<0.05); decisional conflict decreased significantly (13.3/20 vs. 8.7/20, p<0.05). Intention to participate (9.3/10 vs. 9.4/10) remained unchanged.

10 GPs, 6 midwives and 2 gynecologists rated 85.1% of the DAT as good/excellent.

The amount of information was sufficient for both women and healthcare professionals, but the perceived reading time was different (significantly longer for professionals than for women). The information was perceived as balanced for half of the participants, but appeared to be against screening for a third of the professionals and in favor of screening for a third of the women.

Discussion The DAT achieves the objectives defined in the literature in terms of increasing knowledge and reducing decision-making conflict.

Conclusion The DAT is validated according to IPDAS criterias.