Feeling Of Inevitability May Keep Older Women From Getting Screened.(for breast cancer)

2001 MAR 29 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Older women who fear the possibility of becoming ill still forgo recommended routine breast cancer screening unless they feel that they could successfully overcome health problems, according to the findings of a new Canadian study.

Interviews with 198 women, age 50 to 75, were designed to assess which factors predicted adherence to guidelines calling for women to undergo mammography every other year.

Overall, more than half of the women went for routine screening. Women age 50 to 69 years were more likely to adhere to the screening guidelines than women age 70 to 75 years (58% vs. 43%).

The findings are published in the April 2001 issue of Health Education & Behavior.

Despite an increasing incidence of breast cancer and the benefits of regular mammography, "adherence to mammography screening guidelines is one behavior that is poorly practiced, especially among older women," said Margaret E.A. Black, PhD, and colleagues.

That trend was reflected in the finding that women over the age of 70 were most likely to report that there was "no need" for them to get screened.

Black, an associate professor in the School of Nursing at McMasters University in Ontario, Canada, and her colleagues found that women who could envision the consequences of becoming ill were significantly more likely to get screened for breast cancer regularly if they believed they could battle health problems. Women who were not concerned about breast cancer but perceived that mammography would benefit their health also were more likely to get screened than women who were worried but thought mammography wouldn't make a ...