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Title: Screening Mammography: Women's reactions to false positive results and ductal carcinoma in-situ
Citation Type: Miscellaneous
Publication Year: 2000
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Abstract: Background: Many screening experts believe that women contemplating screening mammography would benefit from education about false positive results. Objective: To learn how women feel about false positive results and other potential harms of screening mammography Design: Cross-sectional survey (66% response rate) Setting: Random sample of American women age 18 and older. Participants: 479 women who completed the survey and did not report a history of breast cancer. Results: Women recognized that false positive results occur - their median estimate of the false positive rate for 10 years of annual screening was 20% (25th-75th percentile: 10%-45%). Women were highly tolerant of false positive results: about two thirds felt that 500 or more false positive results per life saved was a reasonable price to pay (37% would tolerate 10,000 or more). Women who had experienced a false positive result (n=76) expressed the same high tolerance (39% would tolerate 10,000 or more). 62% of women did not want to factor information about false positive results into their screening decision. Only 8% of women thought that mammography could harm a woman who did not have breast cancer. Most women (94%) doubted the possibility of non-progressive breast cancers. Few had heard about ductal-carcinoma-in-situ (DCIS) - a cancer which does not always progress. However, when informed, 60% of women wanted to factor the possibility of DCIS into their screening decision. Conclusions:Women are aware of false positive results and seem to view them as an acceptable consequence of screening. In contrast, most women are unaware that screening can detect cancers that may never progress but feel that such information would be relevant. Perhaps, educational efforts should focus less on false positive results and introduce a less familiar outcome - the detection of DCIS.
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Authors: Schwartz, LM
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Data Collections: IPUMS USA
Topics: Fertility and Mortality, Health
Countries: United States