FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE/July 31, 1996 CONTACT: Anita Baumann [202/651-7048] Regular Mammography Screenings Are Low in Women over Fifty, According to Research StudyOne-time and three-year adherence mammography guidelines studiedWASHINGTON, DC -- Despite past studies indicating that mammography examinations reduce mortality, particularly for women over the age of fifty, regular screening rates remain low, according to a study in a recent issue of Nursing Research, an American Journal of Nursing publication and the research journal of the American Nurses Association. Researchers Anna M. Miller, DNS, RN, and Victoria L. Champion, DNS, RN, identified factors that predispose women aged fifty and older to seek mammography, including attitudinal variables of perceived susceptibility, knowledge of breast cancer and mammography guidelines, social support, control, benefits, barriers, health history, and selected demographic characteristics. Miller and Champion also identified variables that enable women to obtain mammography, including income, health insurance, source of medical care, and type of physician. According to past studies, significant barriers to mammography include cost, embarrassment, pain, worry about radiation, fear of finding breast cancer, and lack of physician recommendation. "Removing or minimizing barriers to mammography may be effective in convincing women to have one mammogram, but for the desired behavior of regular mammography, interventions need to be focused on the benefits of regular mammography," according to Miller. Miller and Champion surveyed 1,083 women 50 years and older with no prior history of breast cancer. The majority of those surveyed were white, married or had been married, middle or upper income, and had at least a high school education. However, 22 percent were African-American and 18 percent had incomes below $15,000. Of those women sampled, almost 85 percent reported having at least one mammogram; however, only about 20 percent had annual mammography screening for the past three years. Analysis of the predisposing variables revealed positive correlations between one-time and three-year adherence and knowledge of breast cancer, benefits from mammography, social influence, motivation for general health behaviors, perceived control over breast cancer, and willingness to pay out-of-pocket costs ($50 or more) for mammography. Women whose physicians recommended mammography were 14 times more likely to have had the exam than women whose physicians did not make such a recommendation. Although no variables that enable women to actually get mammograms were predictive of mammography use, significant bivariate associations were found between mammography use and higher income, being on Medicare, and having an obstetrician/gynecologist as a regular physician. "The strong relationship between mammography use and physician recommendation for mammography underscores the importance of a regular contact with a primary care provider. This is an excellent opportunity for nursing to expand its role in providing mammography education and referral," according to Champion.
|
