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Breast carcinoma screening and risk perception among women at increased risk for breast carcinoma
Author(s) -
Sabatino Susan A.,
Burns Risa B.,
Davis Roger B.,
Phillips Russell S.,
Chen YaHua,
McCarthy Ellen P.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/cncr.20274
Subject(s) - medicine , mammography , breast cancer , odds ratio , confidence interval , gynecology , logistic regression , demography , obstetrics , risk perception , breast carcinoma , cancer , perception , psychology , neuroscience , sociology
BACKGROUND The Gail model is validated to estimate breast carcinoma risk. The authors assessed the association of Gail risk scores with screening and cancer risk perception. METHODS Using the 2000 National Health Interview Survey, the authors studied women ages 41–70 without a cancer history. Gail scores ≥ 1.66% defined increased risk. The authors used logistic regression to assess associations between breast carcinoma risk and previous and recent (≤ 1 year) mammography and clinical breast examination (CBE). RESULTS Of 6410 women, 15.7% had increased risk. High‐risk women more frequently reported previous mammograms (94% vs. 85%; P < 0.0001), previous CBE (93% vs. 88%; P < 0.0001), recent mammograms (70% vs. 54%; P < 0.0001), recent CBE (71% vs. 61%; P < 0.0001), and high cancer risk perception (20% vs. 9%; P < 0.0001). However, 30% of high‐risk women had not received a recent mammogram. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, access to care factors, and cancer risk perception, high‐risk women remained more likely to have received recent mammography (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.45, 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.19–1.77), recent CBE (OR, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.08–1.61]), and previous mammography than average‐risk women. The authors observed an interaction between risk and age, with women ages 41–49 years more frequently reporting previous mammography (OR, 4.79; 95% CI, 1.55–4.81) than average‐risk, same‐age women. For women age ≥ 50 years, the odds of previous mammography were similar regardless of risk. CONCLUSIONS In a nationally representative sample, 15.7% of women had increased breast carcinoma risk using the Gail model. High‐risk women perceived higher cancer risk and more often received screening. However, nearly one in three high‐risk women did not receive recent screening and most of these women did not perceive increased risk. Cancer 2004. © 2004 American Cancer Society.