Pain experienced by women attending breast cancer screening

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the pain experience of women during mammography for breast cancer screening. Possible associations with personal and medical history, sociodemographics and/or situational factors were studied. It was also investigated whether this pain influenced the intention to return for future breast cancer screening. In the Netherlands, women between 50-75 years are invited for screening every two years. A total of 1200 participants were asked to fill up a questionnaire. The response rate was 79.5% (n = 954), and 945 questionnaires contained adequate information for analyses. A total of 689 women (72.9%) described mammography as mild to severely painful. In this group, compared to the group that reported no pain, the following factors occurred significantly more often: sensitive breasts (P = 0.001), family history of breast diseases (P = 0.017); expected pain based on former mammography (P = 0.001), high education (P = 0.008), anxiety (P = 0.001), breast sensitivity in last three days (P = 0.001), insufficient attention of technologist (P = 0.001). Other factors like age, hormonal status, breast size and hormone use were not associated with the pain experienced. Thirty-two women (3.3%) indicated that they would not attend further screening, 25 (2.6%) reported that the pain might deter them, six women (0.6%) had other reasons, one woman (0.1%) was sure not to come because of severe pain. In conclusion, a large majority of women attending breast cancer screening describes mammography as painful (72.9%). Factors associated with pain were described. Relatively few women (2.7%) indicated that the pain might deter them from future mammography. Recommendations are given to reduce the pain experienced during screening mammography.

Mammography in females with an implanted medical device: impact on image quality, pain and anxiety

“…Previous personal experience, anxiety and insufficient attention given by the radiographer are related to the pain experienced during mammography. [10][11][12] High pain scores may even lead to the decision to stop participating in the programme. 13 Therefore, it is important for radiographers to explain the procedure well and reassure females before and during mammography.…”

Validation of Electrical Impedance Tomography Qualitative and Quantitative Values and Comparison of the Numeric Pain Distress Score against Mammography

“…Data from this study had shown after years of development in breast imaging, women perception of pain during mammography still remain (Asghari and Nicholas, 2004;Keemers-Gels et al, 2000). Existence of a new imaging tool with much lesser pain may be the answer to boost up the popularity for breast health screening among women worldwide (Fass, 2008).…”

The impact of screening on future health-promoting behaviours and health beliefs: a systematic review

“…These papers described the health behaviours and beliefs of women who had recently undergone breast screening, [193][194][195][196][197][198][199][200] those who had undergone screening and were recommended to have further follow-up investigations, [201][202][203][204] women who had recently undergone further investigations, and were found not to have cancer, 205 women who had previously received a false-positive screening result, necessitating a breast biopsy, and then were found to not have cancer, 206 and women who had recently not reattended for routine breast screening. 187 An additional cross-sectional survey of a random population sample (not necessarily after screening) studied the level of opinion regarding the acceptability of false-positive results in mammography.…”

“…[193][194][195][197][198][199] All of these papers reported a high proportion of women with positive intentions (89-99%). The descriptive study of women who had a recent false-positive result found the same result, with 96% of the women reporting that they would reattend for routine screening next time.…”