In November, right after the new mammography recommendations hit the press, HealthCentral sent out a survey to ask women what they thought. After more than 1000 responses, the preliminary results are in.
If you have not already, please take the survey (you need a facebook account)
Women Speak Out: Mammograms are painful but worth it
By Veronica Combs, HealthCentral Director of Patient Engagement
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force made headlines in November 2009 with new recommendations about who should have mammograms and when they should have them. The new guidelines state that mammograms are most effective for women 50 - 75. Currently most doctors recommend that women get yearly screenings starting at age 40.
In response to these new recommnedations, HealthCentral surveyed registered members to find out about about their experiences with mammograms and to get their thoughts on the new guidelines. We sent a survey invite via e-mail to our registered users in eight topic areas relevant to women's health.
A compelling subject
Unsurprisingly, we got a strong response. More than 1,000 people completed the survey and the overwhelming majority said that mammograms should be available to all women regardless of age. Our registered users also believe that mammograms should be covered by health insurance.
Women from many age groups completed the survey, including the exact demographic that will be directly affected by the new guidelines.
Most of the survey participants have firsthand experience with mammograms.
About 25% of respondents have or have had breast cancer.
Survey participants trust mammograms
Most women think that there should not be age limits around when a woman can get a mammogram.
HealthCentral members also thought mammograms should always be covered by health insurance.
Although the personal comments showed that women had concerns about false positive test results, the majority of survey respondents said the peace of mind from having he test outweighed the anxiety of a false positive and additional unnecessary testing.
We also compared responses from women who had breast cancer to responses from women who did not have breast cancer. That comparison is below.
Personal stories reveal human aspect of screening
The survey included an optional question that asked women to describe their experiences with mammograms. Almost everyone made a comment, which is unusual and shows the level of interest in this topic.
The general consensus was that mammograms are painful, but worth it. Many, many women said a mammogram had detected cancer and led to a lumpectomy or mastectomy. There were people who agreed with the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force about the risk of false positives and described unnecessary tests. There were also women whose cancer was missed by mammograms.
