CBS News/New York Times Women's Health Poll, February 1997

This special topic poll, fielded February 18-19, 1997, is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that solicit public opinion on the presidency and on a range of other political and social issues. The focus of this data collection was on women's health issues. Views were sought on whether government health agencies paid enough attention to women's health issues, and how well the federal government regulated the environmental practices of businesses and the safety of medical equipment and procedures. Respondents were asked to name the leading cause of death for women and whether they had ever heard of mammograms. Female respondents were polled on whether a doctor had ever discussed mammograms with them, whether they had ever had one, how accurate, safe, and painful they were, at which age women should begin getting mammograms, and whether the federal government should set guidelines for mammograms. Female respondents were also polled on the benefits of early detection of breast cancer and how often they conducted breast self-examinations. All respondents were polled on whether they had noticed the new television program ratings system, whether they had used the ratings to prohibit their children from watching certain television programs, and how many hours per day their children watched television. Additional topics addressed health insurance coverage, whether the respondent or a female relative was ever diagnosed with breast cancer, and whether respondents would like to take an "adventure" vacation. Demographic variables included sex, age, race, education level, household income, political party affiliation, political philosophy, type of residential area (e.g., urban or rural),and religious preference.